Kevin Anderson went down to defeat in the Austria Open quarter-finals on Friday but not before serving his way through the 1,000 ace barrier for the season.

The second seeded South African hit 23 aces but still lost 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to Steve Johnson of the United States in a gruelling two and three-quarter hour duel.

Anderson now has 1,003 aces in 2015, joining Ivo Karlovic (1,321) and John Isner (1,162) in the 1,000-plus aces club.

The result did nothing to help the South African's outside chances of snatching one of the two remaining places in the eight-man field for the World Tour Finals in London next month.

Anderson, 29, entered Friday's match in provisional 11th place, but standing more than 1,100 computer points shy of a theoretical spot in the field.

Vienna top seed David Ferrer, who was playing a quarter-final against Italy's Fabio Fognini later in the day, occupies eighth place at the moment.

He trails seventh-placed Japan's Kei Nishikori who is currently sidelined with a recurring shoulder injury.

Johnson, ranked 47 in the world, will be competing in his third semi-final of the season where he will face Latvia's Ernests Gulbis who knocked out seventh seed Ivo Karlovic 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5).

"Tennis is unpredictable, anything can happen," said Johnson after winning in front of an all-time record crowd for the Stadthalle of 9,100.

"Ernests was once a top 10 player and he's had a great career. We'll have to see what happens.

"I played well today and I'm really glad to go through. I hope I'm able to stick around in Vienna a few more days."

Gulbis, who now stands outside the world top 100 after riding a career ranking roller-coaster, has rededicated himself to training after reuniting with Vienna-based coach Gunther Bresnik.

Gulbis will be playing his first semi-final in more than a year after downing Karlovic, who lost despite 19 aces and 38 winners in a match without a break of serve.

The Latvian son of a millionaire businessman said that after wrist and shoulder problems this season: "I've been playing well for the last few months.

"But my wrist problem meant that I had to pull out of the US Open and two Asian tournaments. I came to Vienna to train and started slowly.

"I've been getting better with each match and played well today. My place is inside the top 100 -- not outside of it.

"I beat two top 20 players here (John Isner and Karlovic) so things are improving for me."
Source: AFP