South African Kevin Anderson continued the best season of his career on Wednesday, downing Michael Russell in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Atlanta Championships. Anderson, a semi-finalist here a year ago, remained on track for a potential final against 2010 champion Mardy Fish.
After enjoying a first-round bye, Anderson opened his Atlanta campaign with a second-round 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russell, a 33-year-old journeyman from the United States. He will play Friday against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who notched 15 aces in a 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-2 victory over Robby Ginepri, who is trying to come back from the broken elbow he suffered in a mountain bike crash last year.
Lu Yen-Hsun of Taiwan rallied to beat Bosnian-born Australian Marinko Matosevic 3-6, 6-1, 6-2. Anderson, 25 and ranked ranked 34th in the world, won a title on home turf in Johannesburg this season. Against Russell He needed less than 90 minutes to book his sixth quarter-final of 2011.
