French Open Champ Wawrinka Ousted by Anderson at Queens Club
June 17, 2015 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Calvin Rhoden
A day after top-seeded Rafael Nadal was bounced from the Aegon Championships, second-seed and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka saw his tournament run come to an end. South African Kevin Anderson beat Wawrinka 7-6(4), 7-6(11) on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals at the Queens Club tournament.
The win is the fourth straight for Anderson over the two-time Grand Slam champion.
“I felt I was serving really well,” said Anderson. “Grass definitely helps a little bit, especially on some of the wide serves. I felt a very good serving performance by me today. Just stayed patient throughout. Especially in that second set, I found I was having quite a few chances on his serve. He was able to hit through. Sometimes it’s tricky to refocus on your serve, but I felt I did a really good job with that today.”
Wawrinka saved five match points before Anderson was finally able to close him out and snap the Swiss’ eight-match winning streak.
Anderson will take on Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the quarterfinals after Garcia-Lopez downed Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3, 7-6(4) on Wednesday.
Third-seed Milos Raonic won his second straight match since being off since early May, beating France’s Richard Gasquet 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1. The Canadian will meet seventh-seed Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals.