Kevin Anderson powered through to his first Grand Slam final after coming from a set down to defeat Pablo Carreño Busta at the US Open.

The giant South African, who towers above most of his opponents at 6 ft 8, prevailed 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 54 on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

In that time, Anderson, 31, hit 58 winners and 22 aces, as his imposing game eventually broke down the resilience of the dogged Spaniard.

Anderson will now meet either Rafael Nadal or Juan Martin Del Potro in Sunday’s final.

Carreño Busta starts the stronger

The South African had won both of the pair’s previous matches, the last of which was played on a hard court in Montreal just a couple of weeks ago.

However, it was Carreño Busta, 26, who appeared more comfortable early on, in what was a first major semi-final for both players.

In the opening set, the Spaniard barely put a foot wrong, making a high percentage of first serves while keeping tremendous length from the baseline.

Anderson had lost his serve just three times in the entire tournament before this match, however a loose game from the South African at 3-3 handed his opponent the first break.

The 28th seed continued to overpress and make errors on his groundstrokes, allowing Carreño Busta to take the opening set in 34 minutes.

Anderson goes on the attack

Despite his incredible consistency, the Spaniard had no answer to Anderson’s potent start to the second set.

After almost an hour, the South African breached his opponent's serve for the first time with a couple of crushing forehands.

However, in the following game, Carreño Busta broke back after landing three brilliant passing shots.

The closing stages of the set felt decisive and so they proved, with Anderson breaking serve at 6-5 to level the match at a set apiece.

Serve comes to the fore

That turned out to be a huge body blow for Carreño Busta, who saved three break points in the second game of the third before double faulting at 30-40 two games later.

By that stage, Anderson’s serve was firing on all cylinders and he sealed the set with his 20th ace.

Anderson carried his momentum into the fourth set and threatened to pull away after breaking serve for 3-2.

Carreño Busta continued to dig deep, though, and forced Anderson to serve for the match at 5-4.

After a couple of nervy and lengthy exchanges, he eventually did and will now have the chance to contest for his first major title.

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About the author
Joe Nicholson
Sports Journalism student at Sunderland University. Writer for the Championship and tennis offices.