Andy Murray confident of handling big-serving Anderson
Tuesday 8 September 2015 02:33, UK
Andy Murray will rely on his powers of return to tackle the threat of big-serving Kevin Anderson in the US Open last 16.
The towering South African smashed 17 aces past Austrian Dominic Thiem in the third round at Flushing Meadows to climb to the top of the tournament table with 69, and now plays Murray for a place in the quarter-finals tonight.
But the Briton is one of the game's deadliest returners and boasts an almost faultless record against the fastest servers.
Murray has won 15 of 16 career meetings against Ivo Karlovic, John Isner and Anderson, the players who serve up the most aces.
His only defeat came against Anderson at Montreal in 2011 but he has come out on top in all of their five meetings since, including a straight-sets win in the final at Queen's in June.
And the former US Open winner said he is confident of his ability to handle the power of the 6ft 8in Anderson.
"They're always tricky matches. But getting a lot of returns in play is something that throughout most of my career I've been good at," he said.
"Often the big servers, they come into matches used to getting a lot of free points.
"[If you return well] it changes their mindset a little bit in the way they play the match and play the points.
"That's why I think I've had good success against them in the past. But they're always tough matches because you don't get loads of opportunities normally."
Murray will also hope for some favourable weather in New York after saying he felt better in the cooler conditions against Thomaz Bellucci in round three than in the sweltering heat of his opening two matches.
Higher temperatures can favour big servers who gain extra potency from the additional bounce, and Murray is pleased his match is third in the day's schedule when it is likelier to be cooler.
"I feel like in most places, when it's humid, it kind of slows the ball down a little bit," he added.
"Obviously it's been hot, which speeds the ball up. But the humidity felt like it made the balls bouncier than usual.
"Obviously against a tall guy who serves well, it will be a little bit harder to return the serve when it's like that."
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