A semifinal spot will be at stake when Kevin Anderson and Joao Sousa square off on Thursday in Nice. This is just Anderson’s sixth tournament of the season. Adam Leigh previews the action.
Kevin Anderson will look to build some momentum after an injury-plagued start to 2016 when he meets Portugal’s Joao Sousa for the first time in the last eight of the Open de Nice Cote d’Azur.
Anderson’s  year to date could not stand in starker contrast to his outstanding 2015 season, during which he became the first South African to crack the world’s top 10 since Wayne Ferreira nearly 20 years ago. Multiple withdrawals caused by various injury issues saw him complete just five matches on tour prior to Nice. As the tournaments third seed, he received a first-round bye–all things considered, he may have preferred to be part of a competitive match given his recent lack of court time. Anderson followed it up with a good serving display while beating Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16.
Sousa’s fitness has not been a problem, so his results this year have been little better than his quarterfinal opponent. Prior to the Madrid Masters, he endured first-round exits from eight of 10 tournaments since the Australian Open, with second-round ousters in Miami and Monte-Carlo completing a disastrous run. He showed some signs of life with a quarterfinal appearance in Madrid, where he took a set from Rafael Nadal in a high-quality contest. So far in Nice, Sousa has required three sets to get past Quentin Halys and Victor Estrella Burgos after getting off to slow starts in both contests.
Despite hovering around the top 25, Sousa has a torturous 1-22 record against top 10 players. Though he has a wonderfully efficient and compact technique, his game is really too light weight to deal with the weapons of the elite players on tour. He should be most suited on the clay, where the hitting power of the game’s heavyweights is somewhat blunted and he can make the most of his great movement; though his best success has come indoors, where shots don’t have to be muscled like they do outdoors.
Despite his ranking slipping from last year’s high, Anderson possess the top-10 type power game with which Sousa struggles. The slower dirt of Nice will assist Sousa and he will be a good test of Anderson’s fitness by working him around the court on occasions, but if the South African knocks in 70 percent of his first serves as he did against Schwartzman, there will not be a great deal Sousa can do.
Pick: Anderson in 2
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who ya got?
In daily picks u have Sousa in three and here u have Kevin in two?? I was leaning towards Kevin at first but decided eh why not pick an upset with Sousa. I wouldn’t bet on this match though. Could easily go the way of Kevin. I have a feeling Sousa is gonna barely get the win though. But at the same time I feel like Anderson is the more reliable choice. Haha I don’t even know anymore lol. I do want Kevin to win that’s for sure. Liking his comeback so far. Has been pretty impressive compared to what I expected to be honest. Hope he can keep it up here and in RG. Let’s go Kevin!!
I have Sousa in 3
Well Sousa did win so I guess that was the right pick by me and you but I’m still kinda sad Kevin lost cuz I wanted to see him maybe pick up some more momentum before RG with at least a SF run here or something.