London Day 3: Anderson, Federer win

Day Three of the Nitto ATP Finals in London featured the second series of round robin matches from Group Lleyton Hewitt, and the trend of straight sets wins continued.

Group Guga Kuerten

Novak Djokovic (1)

Sascha Zverev (3)

Marin Cilic (5)

John Isner (8)

Group Lleyton Hewitt 

Roger Federer (2)

Kevin Anderson (4)

Dominic Thiem (6)

Kei Nishikori (7)

Day Three round robin matches

Kevin Anderson (4) defeated Kei Nishikori (7)

A battle of two winners from the opening day was quickly an Anderson benefit, with powerful serving and aggressive returns pressuring Nishikori into error.

The fourth seed won 80% of points on his serve in set one, whereas Nishikori could only manage 41% on his delivery.

Eight times Anderson had a chance to break the Japanese serve and he was successful three times.  The set was won 6-0.

Set two was no better on the scoreboard for Nishikori, his points won on serve just 8 from 17.  He did hold serve once, but the match was effectively done and dusted well before that.  Anderson delivered the final blow for a 6-0 6-1 triumph, strongly placed now to make the semi finals.

Roger Federer (2) defeated Dominic Thiem (6)

A much better performed Federer, from the outset, placed Thiem in bother.  Both required a win to remain in contention (without relying on other results) for a semi final spot, and it was the Swiss player who stepped up his game from Day One.

Using the backhand slice to his advantage, Federer forced Thiem into a number of errors, and the Austrian’s efforts to move forward brought little benefit.

Federer faced no break points on his serve in the opening set, and broke Thiem twice for a 6-2 lead.

In set two, Federer lost only one point on his own serve, while taking 14 points off the Thiem serve.

Two more service breaks and a decisive win for Federer 6-2 6-3

As a result, Anderson needs to win a single game in his final round robin match against Federer to clinch a semi final spot.

If that occurs, the other semi final spot from Group Lleyton Hewitt will be a battle between Federer, Nishikori and Thiem.