DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Kevin Anderson defeated American qualifier Steve Johnson 6-2, 6-4 Saturday to reach the final of the Delray Beach Open.
Anderson, seeded No. 4 and ranked No. 21 in the world, will be playing in his second Delray Beach final on Sunday when he faces the winner of the other semifinal between No. 2 seed John Isner and No. 7 seed Marin Cilic. Anderson won this event in 2012.
Anderson, who lives in Delray Beach, had 13 aces and won 86 percent of his first-serve points against Johnson.
"I'm pleased with the way I executed that part of my game," Anderson said.
It was the first ATP semifinal for Johnson, the former two-time NCAA singles champion from USC.
"I definitely was a little uptight in the beginning, but credit (Anderson). He played very well," said Johnson, who upset No. 1 seed Tommy Haas and No. 6 seed Feliciano Lopez to reach the semifinals. "He was a better tennis player today, and I have nothing to hang my head about."
Frantisek Cermak and Mikhail Elgin advanced to the doubles final with a 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 win against Samuel Groth and Max Mirnyi.
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