Two of the hottest players on tour will be squaring off when Kevin Anderson and Stefanos Tsitsipas battle for a spot in the Rogers Cup final on Saturday afternoon. Their only previous encounter came earlier this season on the red clay of Estoril, where Tsitsipas prevailed 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-3.
But the 19-year-old is aware that things could be different this time around. “I’m pretty sure he’s much more dangerous on the hard courts than clay,” Tsitsipas said of Anderson. “It’s going to be tough to deal with his serve.”
Anderson has been tough to deal with ever since last summer, when he finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open. He is now enjoying the best season of his career, highlighted by a runner-up performance at Wimbledon. The sixth-ranked South African has improved to 32-11 for his 2018 campaign with Toronto victories over Evgeny Donskoy (in a third-set tiebreaker), Ilya Ivashka, and Grigor Dimitrov–the latter via a 6-2, 6-2 beatdown.
“It was definitely a great match today,” Anderson said after thrashing the Bulgarian on Friday. “I felt I played really well right from the beginning. I think I played some really good tennis in the last couple of matches, just not from the start…. I felt I was in a really good frame of mind, playing the kind of tennis that I knew I wanted to be playing and needed to be playing.”
Tsitsipas had won just four ATP-level matches in his career prior to this season. It’s still only August 10 and he has won 29 such matches in 2018. The fast-rising Greek made a run to the Barcelona final and he is 10-2 in his last 12 outings with a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon, a semifinal showing in Washington, D.C., and wins this week over Damir Dzumhur, Dominic Thiem, Novak Djokovic, and Alexander Zverev.
“My answer is: I have no idea how I did it,” Tsitsipas said after coming back from 6-3, 5-3 down and saving two match points against Zverev. “I’m playing great tennis; I feel very confident.”
Unfortunately for the world No. 27, he is coming off consecutive three-setters against Djokovic and Zverev–plus relatively tough affairs with Dzumhur and Thiem. With his recent semifinal result in Washington, D.C., as well, Tsitsipas has played an absurd amount of recent tennis. Anderson, on the other hand, has rolled over his last two opponents and is not only well-rested but also in simply incredible form.
Pick: Anderson in 2
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WYG?
That was a straight forward win for Kachanov. Poor Haase. The #1 Russian will be up in the mid-twenties in rank, making his first masters SF.
Yep, Anderson in 2.
Yeah, I’m still dreaming a khachanov anderson final but it will be very difficult ahahah.
I’m hesitant to pick against Tsitsipas again. He’s surprised me twice this week. Have to go with Anderson though.
I think it’s reasonably safe to pick against Tsitsipas at this point. Anderson should win easily …
WTA SF’s are going to be good. But too close for me to call. I would leave that decision to Mira Andi since she’s leading the TDC WTA group. Vamos MA!
Halep v Barty
Svitolina v Stephens
Anderson in 2. Tsitsi has had a great run but his train stops here.
Anderson in three
Anderson wins for sure. He is in a different zone. He has improved his returning skills (accuracy) after starting to play doubles.
Anderson in 2 = 75%, In 3 = 25% as Tsitsipas is a fighter. His backhand is a big weapon. If it is firing well along with his big serve (and both being accurate) and Tsitsipas is NOT tired (but I know he is), then we can see a 3 setter!lol
THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!
HE DID IT! Tsitsipas woooo proved everyone wrong again…im loving this guy
HE IS SO GOOD!! What a win!! One word for Stefanos Tsitsipas: clutch. That backhand down 6-7 was amazing! And he is so good at bouncing back from a bad point (example: the double fault at 6-4 up). His volleys are incredible for his age, he has tremendous variety with a beautiful one hander, and his forehand and serve are huge. He reminds me of a certain someone… 😉
He reminds us of Fedal – the game of Fed and the mentality of Rafa!
Yes you’re exactly right Lucky. Such an exciting talent for this reason.
Tsitsipas is simply unbelievable! What a mental toughness for a 19 year old! Amazing win for the young uprising star! I guess it’s no longer Zverev, Kyrgios or likes! It’s the Greek who will get all the attention!
Anderson indeed is mentally weak one! Feel sorry for him!
And this, friends, is how a star is born. The way he held his nerve after running out of challenges is the stuff of champions.
The crowd is absolutely enchanted with him.
Kelsey was the only person rooting for Kevin
😂😂
Tsitsi really needs to work on his challenges. Absolutely worst part of his game. He is charming. Confident without being cocky. Not afraid to believe in his game, aware that he still has lots to learn. Tremendous potential.
Yes, Tsitsipas got lucky at the end when he ran out of chances. It could have been a disaster. So there are things the kid needs to learn. He showed some nerves when he DF’d on match point. I thought that might cost him the match. But he kept it together and still managed to win.
He does have this quality of being charming and confident without being cocky. I like it. He eeems mature behind his years.
I meant to say challenges!
He seems mature beyond his years! *