Kyle Edmund falls to French Open defeat against Kevin Anderson at Roland Garros
Saturday 3 June 2017 16:32, UK
Britain's Kyle Edmund succumbed to Kevin Anderson in a five-set defeat in the third round of the French Open.
The big-serving South African proved too strong winning 6-7 7-6 5-7 6-1 6-4 against Edmund, who was looking to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam for only the second time, in a match that lasted just under four hours.
Anderson's big-hitting and his destructive serves, which enabled him to fire down 24 aces, proved pivotal in him prevailing over Edmund, who is ranked world No 49.
Edmund's compatriot and world No 1 Andy Murray was impressive in defeating Juan Martin Del Potro 7-7 7-5 6-0.
Anderson, world No 56, will play Marin Cilic, who secured a comprehensive and comfortable victory over Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-1 6-3 6-3.
Edmund and Anderson traded the two opening sets, both through tiebreaks, which were dominated by serve. Edmund took the first 8-6 with Anderson responding with the second 7-4.
Powerful return winners from the 22-year-old Briton at 5-5 in the third enabled Edmund to take the advantage in the third and move within a game of taking a two sets to one lead, which he achieved with an accomplished service hold.
The British No 2 was broken in his first service game of the fourth set following some punishing groundstrokes from Anderson who went on to secure the set convincingly 6-1 and made 12 winners compared to Edmund's one, highlighting the disparity between the two players at that stage.
Edmund staved off three break points at 2-2 in the fifth set but Anderson secured the crucial break at 4-4 before serving out the match.
Fernando Verdasco, the unseeded Spaniard who defeated Alexander Zverev in the first round, comfortably booked his fourth-round spot with a 6-2 6-1 6-3 victory over Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas.
Third seed and 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka is still yet to drop a set after beating Fabio Fognini 7-6(2) 6-0 6-2.
For those on the move, we will have the French Open from Roland Garros covered via our website skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad, or follow our Twitter account @SkySportsTennis to join in the conversation. Can Andy Murray win the French Open? Have your say...
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