Kevin Anderson’s Masters 1000 curse continued as he lost his tenth Quarter-Final in a row to Pablo Carreno Busta at the Miami Open. So why is the South African struggling to reach the Semi-Finals of a masters event?
The US Open runner-up has had a very consistent career and should be very pleased to reach ten masters 1000 Quarter-Finals, a feat that very few players have achieved. However every masters 1000 Quarter-Final he has played he has lost, which makes him 0-10 in this scenario. Here are his ten Quarter-Final losses in full:
2011 Miami – Lost to Djokovic 6-4 6-2
2013 Indian Wells – Lost to Berdych 6-4 6-4
2014 Indian Wells – Lost to Federer 7-5 6-1
2014 Toronto – Lost to Dimitrov 5-7 7-5 7-6(6)
2014 Paris – Lost to Berdych 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4
2015 Shanghai – Lost to Tsonga 7-6(6) 5-7 6-4
2016 Toronto – Lost to Wawrinka 6-1 6-3
2017 Montreal – Lost to Zverev 7-5 6-4
2018 Indian Wells – Lost to Coric 2-6 6-4 7-6(3)
2018 Miami – Lost to Carreno Busta 6-4 5-7 7-6(6)
Some of the above losses are understandable as he was beaten with ease by world class players however some of these losses were tight matches that the South African should have won. Lets refer to last nights loss to Carreno Busta to explain why Anderson has now lost 10 masters Quarter-Finals in a row:
Mental Doubt?
Anderson’s mental attitude since he worked with Neville Godwin last season and has continued his positive mind-set with his new coach this season. However when it came to the big points in his match yesterday he showed mental doubt and panicked on a number of occasions. He also simplified some of his shots too much which eventually cost him as he couldn’t get his mind to focus on the task in front of him, which ultimately lead to his defeat. The South African must overcome this mental doubt if he wants to reach a masters 1000 Semi-Final.
Bad Decision Making
Another reason why the South African couldn’t make the Semi-Finals against Carreno Busta was his decision making at times. It’s good to be aggressive but you need to time it and in that last set tiebreak he was too aggressive too early which ultimately forced too many errors. That bad decision making is the difference between a Semi-Finalist and a Quarter-Finalist, this is something Anderson will realise and hopefully can improve on in the future.
These are a couple of the reasons why Kevin Anderson hasn’t reached the last four of a masters event and he will continue to fail in his bid if he doesn’t improve these qualities. Hopefully the South African can take the positives from his American swing as he looks to transfer his good tennis to the clay court swing.
