Kevin Anderson thrashes Kei Nishikori 6-0 6-1 with ATP Finals semi in sight

Cannon: Kevin Anderson's serve with unstoppable
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James Benge13 November 2018

Kevin Anderson inflicted a brutal drubbing on Kei Nishikori as he moved to the brink of a place in the semi-finals of the ATP Finals.

Anderson reeled off the first 11 games of the match on his way to a 6-0, 6-1 victory in an hour and four minutes. With two victories to his name it would require an unlikely turn of events to see the 32-year-old fail to make the weekend.

Nishikori had stunned Roger Federer two days ago but looked a shadow of a top-10 player, let alone Sunday’s victor, as he was ruthlessly dismantled by the more powerful, more reliable Anderson.

The South African’s serve was a barrage of cannon fire, with Nishikori unable to get the majority of deliveries over the net, let alone establish himself in a rally. The seventh seed's own attempts were more like a water pistol, not aided by the fact he so rarely managed to get the ball in play off his first serve.

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His success rate had slipped as low as 33 per cent midway through the first set - by the time it had swung in the direction of credibility the set was already gone and the second was slipping away.

To his credit Anderson refused to ease up on the pressure, hammering in 74 per cent of his first serves and outlasting Nishikori from the baseline.

“It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played,” Anderson said. “I found great rhythm right from the start and was able to keep the pressure right on him. You can wait a whole year to play a match like this and to play it here is great.”

Inevitably the O2 crowd took pity on Nishikori, cheering any rare point he won off the Anderson serve and greeting the drop shot that earned him his first game as though it were a victory in itself, but it was not long before he was put out of his misery.

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