JOHANNESBURG (AP)—Kevin Anderson of South Africa reached the quarterfinals of the SA Tennis Open with a 6-2, 6-4 win Thursday over Dudi Sela.
The fourth-seeded Anderson had 13 aces, while Sela managed only one. Anderson will meet unseeded Slovak Karol Beck, who defeated Go Soeda of Japan 3-6, 7-5, 6-0.
Sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France defeated Denis Gremelmayr of Germany 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, and Canada’s Frank Dancevic continued his recovery from a serious back injury to beat South Africa’s Fritz Wolmarans 7-6 (6), 6-3.
Dancevic built on his impressive win over defending champion and top-seeded Feliciano Lopez of Spain in the first round to reach the quarters of an ATP event for the first time since 2009. Dancevic, who missed 10 months on tour following surgery on a herniated disc in late ’09, rallied from 3-0 down in the first-set tiebreak and broke twice in the second for victory in 1 hour, 35 minutes.
He will play Mannarino in the quarters as he sets sights on a third ATP final and first since Eastbourne two years ago—before the serious back injury threatened his career. Dancevic, who has not won an ATP tournament, reached a career-high No. 65 in the world rankings before his lengthy injury layoff.
Anderson hit 13 aces to just one from Sela in a clinical performance for his first win in three meetings with the Israeli.
“It definitely felt pretty good out there,” Anderson said. “I wasn’t on edge, I felt very comfortable. I didn’t give him any chances on my service games.”
Anderson gave up just one break and converted four out of his five break points. He is the man to beat after a parade of seeded players, headed by Lopez, were beaten in the opening round of the high-altitude tournament.
“It’s tough to pick the winners in the altitude,” Anderson added. “It’s tricky and definitely can come down to a few points. But I’m looking forward to the rest of the tournament, I’m going to go out and enjoy it.”
Mannarino and Gremelmayr both struggled in their night match, combining for 109 unforced errors before the No. 67-ranked Mannarino won with an ace on his second match point.