2018 French Open: Can Anderson reach the quarterfinals for the first time?

South Africa’s Kevin Anderson reached the fourth round of the French Open for the fifth time beating Germany’s Mischa Zverev in four sets, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-4 (4) at Roland Garros on Saturday.

The world number seven will face Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman for a place in the quarterfinals on Sunday.

Anderson cruised through the opening set securing two breaks of serve but was kept at bay by world number two Alexander Zverev’s older brother in the second. The South African powered to a 3-0 lead in the tie-break but lost seven points in a row to head into the third set one set apiece.

There were just two further breaks of serve for the rest of the match with Anderson easily taking the third 6-3. He would make no mistake in the fourth set tie-break to book his spot.

It is a well-known fact that clay isn’t Anderson’s favourite surface, but the big-serving sixth seed has looked comfortable in his three outings so far.

He sailed through the first round without breaking a sweat against Italy’s Paolo Lorenzi in straight sets. His next two matches haven’t been as straightforward but despite needing four sets in the second and third round, Anderson is in good shape to reach the last-eight.

Anderson has a favourable head-to-head record against the Argentine who is seed 11th. He has beaten Schwartzman on two occasions, once on clay at the Open de Nice Côte d’Azur in straight sets and the other at the Australian Open in four sets.

Schwartzman is yet to drop a set at this year’s French Open and could hold the upper hand if the lanky South African is taken to four or five sets. But Anderson is hungry to go beyond the round of 16 for only the second time in all Grand Slams having reached the US Open final last year.