Kevin Anderson took a huge stride forward in his career by advancing in a Grand Slam event by beating a member of the Big Four. Now a slight deduction for not being Novak but he took down Andy Murray in four long sets. Now he gets to play a very up and down Stan Wawrinka in the net round. The fact that Stan is not a huge favorite in this one speaks volume to both his form and the power of the serve on the hard courts at the US Open.
Slump
Grinding it out each round has gotten Stan to this point. Problems are found in two areas. First is that his unforced error count is much higher than it should be than the 32 or more he has in every match so far. Next is that his second serve is very exploitable. This is very key as Kevin is not the most accomplished player off the ground. It is akin to giving him free points that could give him the match if Stan can not get the first serve percentage higher.
Only +120 for Kevin
This is the most telling number and is only partially reflective on the Murray match. The world went gaga over the Isner match against Federer. Because Jon was rested, he was able to give Roger a much tougher match than he should have. Here is the key to the match. Kevin Anderson is not even as fit as Inser. That four hour Murray match will illustrate his fatal flaw in the slams. A best of five format over the course of two weeks cripples bigger players.
All about fitness is this one. Stan has shown the tenacity to dig in deep. Here there is not a ton of pressure on him as he will hold serve easier than Kevin. The sets might run to those 7-6’s but Wawrinka is more than able to beat back Anderson. Take the free play and the gift -140 for Wawrinka on Wednesday.
