Anderson's Comeback Cut Short in Memphis

Damir Dzumhur notched his first ATP World Tour match win of the season on Monday after he felled former Memphis Open finalist Kevin Anderson in the first round. The unseeded Bosnian had fallen three times in his opening match in 2017 but eked out a 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-4 victory over the South African.

World No. 86 Dzumhur rallied from a set and 1-3 down in the second set to seal the two-hour, 38-minute result. He booked a second-round meeting with either seventh seed Steve Darcis or Radu Albot.

“It’s really a big win, especially after some tough results the last few weeks,” Dzumhur said. “I lost last week in three sets to [Andreas] Seppi. In Australia, I lost in five sets to Viktor [Troicki].

“So I was playing good but I couldn’t find a way to win the match. After those losses, you lose a lot of confidence.

“This win means a lot really, especially because it was against [Kevin] Anderson, who was a former Top 10 player. It was a great match for me. I was fighting very well. I found that positive energy after losing a set and a break down to win the match.”

Anderson, who reached the final in his last Memphis appearance two years ago (l. to Nishikori), was playing his first match of the season after a hip injury. The 30-year-old South African was ranked as high as No. 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings in 2015 before an injury-marred 2016 saw his ranking drop to No. 80.

Earlier, American Donald Young also fought back from a set and a 1-3 break down in the second set to upset No. 6 seed Adrian Mannarino 3-6, 7-5, 7-6(4). Young had two match points on serve at 5-4 in the third set before getting the job done in the tie-break on his fourth match point. Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka had a more routine 6-4, 6-4 win over Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.