Fri, Feb 20, 2015 page8

• Taiwan’s Lu stuns top seed Anderson

  GAME PLAN: Lu Yen-hsun played a consistent, no-frills style of tennis that forced Kevin Anderson to take chances, and the South African was ineffective in his service games

  • AP, DELRAY BEACH, Florida
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  Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun upset top seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 on Wednesday night in chilly conditions in the second round of the Delray Beach Open.

  The 31-year-old Taiwanese No. 1 set up a quarter-final against fifth seed Adrian Mannarino of France, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Denis Kudla of nearby Boca Raton.

  World No. 61 Lu is seeking his first ATP Tour singles title.

  Fourth seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia also advanced, outlasting 18-year-old Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2).

  Karlovic, the giant Croatian who turns 36 at the end of the month, next faces seventh seed Steve Johnson in the quarter-finals. Johnson topped 17-year-old wild-card Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-3, 6-3.

  Anderson’s ouster, together with second seed John Isner’s loss to Marinko Matosevic on Tuesday night, marked the first time the top two seeds have lost before the quarter-finals since 2006. It also was the 22nd time in the tournament’s 23-year history that the top seed failed to win the tournament. Mardy Fish in 2009 was the only No. 1 to capture the title.

  “That’s not the match I wanted to play,” said Anderson, who lost to Kei Nichikori in the Memphis Open final last week. “I felt sluggish in the conditions, and he stuck to his game plan and was hitting through the ball. I wasn’t putting any returns in the court.”

  Lu played a consistent, no-frills style of tennis that forced Anderson to take chances. The South African, who lives and trains in Delray Beach, was ineffective in his service games as Lu bunted reflex returns back into the court.

  After playing on serve through the first set, Lu took a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker, largely on Anderson’s unforced errors. The top seed fought back to 6-6 with a forehand that skidded off the baseline, but he netted a forehand and then a backhand to hand Lu the set.

  After breaking Lu’s serve in the first game of the second set, Anderson immediately lost his own serve and never recovered.

  Karlovic, who could be competing on the ATP Champions Tour for senior players, used his serve to overpower Kokkinakis.

  “If I didn’t come up against a guy who serves out of a tree like that, I would have had a good chance to keep going,” Kokkinakis said about Karlovic’s 21 aces, including four in a row — one on a second serve — in the 10th game of the first set.

  Neither player was able to break serve, though each had chances. Karlovic double-faulted twice in the second game of the match to set up break points, but escaped with strong serves.

  Kokkinakis saved two break points while serving at 2-3 in the second set.

  Kokkinakis had another chance with Karlovic serving at 3-2 in the first-set tiebreaker.

  After a crafty exchange near the net, the Australian attempted a lob over Karlovic’s left shoulder, but the ball fell short, allowing the Croatian to hit a high backhand-volley winner.

  “Trying that lob was a pretty dumb play,” said Kokkinakis, who gained attention when he played two five-setters during the Australian Open. “That point really killed me.”

  At 1-2 in the second set, with Karlovic planted at the net, Kokkinakis drilled a forehand right at his opponent, forcing Karlovic to duck as the ball landed centimeters inside the baseline.

  “He can really hit those forehands, so it was really difficult for me,” said Karlovic, who is currently ranked world No. 29, down from a career high of No. 14 in 2008. “He’s unbelievable. He’s young and he will be very, very good. I was just hanging in there and serving really well.”

  OPEN 13

  Fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain and seventh seed Gael Monfils of France both won in straight sets to reach the Open 13 quarter-finals on Wednesday.

  World No. 16 Bautista Agut broke Canadian Vasek Pospisil’s serve twice in a 7-5, 6-4 victory and next faces either sixth seed David Goffin of Belgium or Austria’s Dominic Thiem.

  Monfils had 13 aces, saving all three break points he faced, as he beat Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 6-2. He next plays either top seed Milos Raonic of Canada or Italy’s Simone Bolelli, who were due to play yesterday.

  Sergiy Stakhovsky also advanced to the last eight — with 15 aces in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff — and the Ukrainian next faces either second seed Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland or Frenchman Benoit Paire.

  In the remaining first-round matches, fifth seed Gilles Simon of France was leading 7-5, 2-0 against Pierre-Hugues Herbert when his fellow countryman retired with a shoulder injury.

  Goffin broke Polish player Jerzy Janowicz’s serve four times in a 6-4, 6-2 win and Bolelli beat fellow countryman Luca Vanni 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
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