Kevin Anderson kicked off his Paris Masters campaign with a victory after edging out rising star Dominic Thiem in three gruelling sets tonight.
World number 12 Anderson was made to work hard for his victory after coming from behind to beat the 22-year-old - who is ranked 19th - 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in a physically demanding second-round clash which spanned two hours and 47 minutes.
The big-serving South African - who stands at 6'8" - struggled to showcase his powerful service game in an opening set which yielded no breaks of serve as a tie-break loomed.
Thiem barely broke sweat to draw first blood in the match, breaking the Anderson serve on three occasions to move into a one-set lead as an upset looked on the cards.
The prospect of a giant-killing improved early in the second set when Thiem broke Anderson in regulation for the first time en route to a 3-0 cushion, but the 29-year-old broke back in the ninth game to trail 5-4.
He then forced another tie-break - one which he had little choice but to win as he broke Thiem's serve on two occasions to clinch the tie-break 7-4 and level up the match.
Anderson, who had won all three of his previous matches against Thiem, was being made to work hard as another set passed without a break of serve to set up another tie-break.
There, the big right-hander broke the youngster three times to see out the tie-break 7-5 and squeeze into the third round.
Shane Callaghan
