Erste Bank Open: three match balls blocked! Kevin Anderson beats Dennis Novak
Dennis Novak lost his opening match at the Erste Bank Open against the strong South African Kevin Anderson , the Austrian lost 7: 6 (2), 4: 6 and 6: 7 (6) to the two-time Grand Slam finalists.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Oct 26, 2020, 04:59 pm
By Michael Rothschädl from the Wiener Stadthalle
Dennis Novak has not yet been really warm during his numerous participations in the home event in the Wiener Stadthalle. Again and again Austria's number two showed passable performances, for a victory in the main field it was enough for the world number 92nd, who played his best season in the calendar year 2020 and in January with the first entry into the top 100 ATP charts was rewarded.
Now, of course, the Lower Austrian should report success stories for the first time in front of the home audience in the Wiener Stadthalle, although the start with Kevin Anderson should be a difficult one. At least on paper: Anderson, who climbed to fifth place in the ATP world rankings in 2018 and was even allowed to sniff the Grand Slam final in New York City and Wimbledon, has been lagging behind his form for some time and is now in 111th place in the world rankings even behind its Austrian counterpart.
Serve-heavy match
Both players started this match with a very strong serve and tried to succeed with the forehand. Accordingly, there were seldom longer rallies to be seen in the initial phase, but if they did, Dennis Novak usually had the better end for himself. For a long time, neither player could be dangerous when the opponent served, and there were no breakballs to be seen until the last game of the set. At the score of 5: 6 Dennis Novak stumbled a little, had to fend off two break chances Anderesons and saved himself in the tiebreak. In this, the Lower Austrian got off to a clearly better start, quickly pulled away 4-0 and won set one a little later.
In the second set, however, Kevin Anderson continued the upward trend that he had only briefly interrupted in the tiebreak of the first set and grabbed the first break of the game in the fifth game. That should give the South African a boost, Anderson broke Novaks again in the next service game and went 5-2 in the front. Although the Austrian was able to shorten the match again with his first break, in the second game in which the South African served on the set equalization, it was not naked and equalized after almost exactly one and a half hours.
Novak fends off a number of break chances
Despite the set equalization, Kevin Anderson had to be treated in the following interruption, again the knee seemed to cause problems. An injury that had already forced the South African to undergo an operation. Nevertheless, the world ranking was 111. Dangerous in Novak's first service game in the third decisive set, but with the strong support of the 1000 fans in the Wiener Stadthalle, the Austrian number two was able to avert the early break deficit. Lower Austria did the same in his second service game of the third round when Novak was able to fend off two break chances and took the lead again.
Kevin Anderson, on the other hand, did not allow anything on his own serve during this phase, thus seizing control of this match more and more. Nevertheless, Dennis Novak was able to cover up all dicey situations in this third movement and was able to rely on the support of a frenetic audience for the entire duration. And so it was suddenly Kevin Anderson who had to serve against the loss of the match when the score was 4: 5. The South African did this job with flying colors and secured two breakballs with a score of 5: 5, which Novak was able to destroy again. A little later, the Austrian went 6: 5 in the front with a service winner.
Novak in doubles again in action
Once again, Anderson didn’t show any nakedness on his own serve, and scored many free points with massive first services. The winner of this first-round match had to be chosen by means of a quick decision in the third set. The first mini break was secured in this one by Dennis Novak, who benefited from a double error by Anderson. With the same gift, however, the Austrian immediately destroyed it. The next mini-break should also succeed the Lower Austrian, who came to three match balls at 6: 3, but forgave them all - the latter with a double fault. After a very fine backhand longline winner, Anderson then got himself a match point, which he knew how to use with the next strong serve.
In addition to Novak, youngster Jurij Rodionov will also serve in the main field of the Erste Bank Open on Monday. Born in Nuremberg, he last caused a sensation at the French Open when he celebrated a victory in his main draw debut after successfully qualifying. In the evening, Dennis Novak, this time in doubles at Dominic Thiem's side, will end the game day in the Wiener Stadthalle.