Anderson and Johnson Roll Into Memphis Final Eight

South African Kevin Anderson put his big serve on display to dispose of Australian Sam Groth 6-3, 6-2 at the Memphis Open Thursday night. The second-seeded Anderson fired six aces and won 24 of his 25 first serve points to cruise past Groth in straight-sets. Anderson also notched three break points in the process.

“He missed a couple of first serves, and I was able to capitalize on some of the second serves,” said Anderson. “It was nice getting those breaks in both sets early on in the set and go from there.”

Anderson was able to outlast Groth, who also features one of the best serves on the tour. He moves into the quarterfinals now and will take on sixth-seeded American Steve Johnson on a short turnaround.

“It’s going to be another tough match,” said Anderson of playing against Johnson. “It just comes down to my basics, taking care of my serve and getting in as many return games as possible. I just need to be ready from the beginning and try to stay as neutral as possible.”

Johnson battled past German Dustin Brown in a thrilling 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) three-set victory on Thursday. He ripped four aces in the final set and was able to escape in the tiebreaker to move into the final eight.

American Donald Young advanced to the quarterfinals on Thursday as well, knocking off compatriot Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-3 in an afternoon match. Young was able to break Kudla while up 6-5 in the first set to take the set advantage, and then broke again early in the second set to go up 3-1.

That break advantage was all he needed and he closed out the straight-set win.

“He beat me pretty good last year. I like playing people after losing to them because it gives me a little extra motivation,” said Young of Kudla. “Obviously I don’t want to lose the first time, but if I do, then I want to get it the second time. I’m just excited and happy to be in the quarterfinals.”

It is already the second quarterfinal appearance in 2015 for Young. He will meet Australian Bernard Tomic in the final eight.

Tomic ousted fourth-seeded Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine for a minor upset. After rolling in the first set 6-1, Tomic won the final five games of the second set after being down 2-5 to close out Dologopolov and reach his third quarterfinal of the year.

“I knew it was going to be tough, but I played pretty good the first set,” said Tomic. “It was a rollercoaster after that, but I’ve had two solid matches so far and am happy to get the win.”

The quarterfinals from Memphis will get underway Friday night, with top-seeded Kei Nishikori and third-seeded John Isner headlining the action.