Anderson defeats Thiem on his debut at age 32 in ATP Finals
LONDON (AP) Kevin Anderson made a confident start to his ATP Finals debut with a 6-3, 7-6 (10) victory over Dominic Thiem on Sunday.
Having qualified for the season-ending tournament for the first time, the 32-year-old Anderson produced a dominant serving display to cruise to the first set at the O2 Arena, before saving two set points to come through a tense tiebreaker in the second.
The fourth-seeded South African, who was runner-up at Wimbledon this year, was taken to deuce in his opening service game. Anderson dropped only one more point on serve in the first set to ensure he wasn't punished for taking just one of seven break point opportunities on Thiem's delivery.
Anderson's groundstrokes were almost as impressive as his serve, particularly in the first set, and drew a series of errors from Thiem in the fourth game, which resulted in the crucial break.
Thiem rallied in a far more competitive second set but the 25-year-old Austrian couldn't force a break point despite taking Anderson to deuce on two occasions.
A tense tiebreaker saw the pair exchange multiple mini-breaks as Thiem saved three match points before Anderson finally brought up an opportunity to win on his own serve with a forehand winner up the line for an 11-10 lead.
He didn't waste it, hitting a 13th ace of the match to ensure that the sixth-seeded Thiem has now lost his opening round-robin match on all three of his appearances at the tournament.
In Sunday's late match, 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer plays Kei Nishikori.
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