Kevin Anderson is philosophical about a crucial line call which went his way in his quarter-final victory in Auckland.
Playing a second set tiebreak, Anderson’s American opponent Steve Johnson thought he’d hit a winner down the line which would have given him set point on his serve.
But the line umpire called it out, and three points later Anderson had secured the tiebreak 10-8, and with it a 6-4 7-6 victory.
Anderson didn’t get a good look at the shot as he had been diving for a volley, but the fourth seeded South African says he “probably got the benefit of the doubt on that call”.
However, he says there is always a chance of disputed calls when the Hawkeye technology isn’t used.
“I guess there’s human error there, you’re not going to call them perfectly,” he said.
It’s the second match at the tournament where a controversial call was made near the end of a match.
On Tuesday, the Bryan brothers, the top-ranked doubles pair in the world, thought they had won their first round match in a super tiebreak, but the line judge disagreed and shortly afterwards they were defeated.
Anderson hadn’t won a match in three previous visits to Auckland but against Johnson he showed the sort of form which has him at number 16 in the world.
“I was really pleased with the way I returned, the way I served and the way I moved, and when I’m doing those three things I’m playing pretty good tennis,” he said.
His semi-final opponent will be 21-year-old Czech qualifier Jiri Vesely, who beat Donald Young of the USA in straight sets.
In their only previous clash, Anderson beat Vesely in five sets at last year’s Australian Open.
“I was two sets to love up so it was a little bit unlucky in that match,” Vesely said.
“It’s going to be a very tight match. I’m looking forward to it.”
The other semi-final will see French training partners Adrian Mannarino and Lucas Pouille clash.
Mannarino, 26, earned his spot by beating Alejandro Falla of Colombia 6-3 6-1, while 20-year-old Pouille, who is only in the tournament as a lucky loser, looked good when beating Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain 6-3 6-2.
