Sometimes an opponent can produce such an impenetrable serving performance that resistance feels futile.  This was the situation in which Sam Querrey found himself against Kevin Anderson in Acapulco on Wednesday.  Querrey had won six of their nine previous meetings, but Anderson has enjoyed a much superior season to his fellow giant and proved it by advancing to the quarterfinals.

One statistic leaps out from this match:  the 92% of first-serve points that Anderson won.  The South African alumnus of the University of Illinois lost only one point on his first serve during the first set and a half.  Only a weak first-serve percentage could have given Querrey a window of hope in his return games during that span, and Anderson did not oblige.  Regularly pinpointing his first serve, he never faced a break point as he built on his momentum from reaching the Delray Beach final last weekend.

Still, Querrey did not play poorly despite never threatening to win the match.  In fact, he arguably improved from his three-set victory in the first round, showing that he could compete with a top-25 opponent on a hot streak.  Querrey lost serve only once in two sets, a promising sign ahead of the North American Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami.  He should leave Acapulco with his mind more at ease than when he arrived.

So too should Donald Young after a predictable loss to Gilles Simon in the second round.  Apparently recovered from a January injury, Simon simply brings too much consistency for Young to equal across the course of a match.  That routine loss followed his victory over Jarkko Nieminen, however, which ended a disastrous skid since the Australian Open. 

Brighter news came from the women’s field in Acapulco, where Christina McHale notched a second straight morale-boosting victory.  She had defeated a quality opponent in Kristina Mladenovic to start the tournament, and on Wednesday she cruised past the crafty Kimiko Date-Krumm.  This Japanese veteran has unnerved many a young woman with her unique angles and competitive tenacity, yet McHale clung firmly to the initiative once she grasped it.  

Less fortunate was qualifier Victoria Duval, who fell meekly to Croatian talent Ajla Tomljanovic.  But four victories this week between the qualifying draw and the main draw marked a fine achievement for a youngster who had done little since stunning Samantha Stosur at the Australian Open.  Like Young, Duval received a wildcard into the main draw of Indian Wells next week, an opportunity that she has positioned herself well to seize.

In the men’s match of the day, Ernests Gulbis barely dodged an upset bid that few saw coming from David Goffin.  Outside a single second-week appearance at Roland Garros, the small Belgian has not distinguished himself at the ATP level.  But Goffin extended Gulbis, a champion in Marseille last week, to a final-set tiebreak.  The match reminded observers that Gulbis too often plays to the level of his competition, lacking the discipline to dispatch lower-ranked opponents as smoothly as he should.  The similarly charismatic but flaky Alexandr Dolgopolov can display the same flaw, yet the Rio finalist extended his surge with a serving effort against Jeremy Chardy that echoed Anderson’s efficiency.

Able to advance with greater efficiency were three Australian Open quarterfinalists.  Top seed David Ferrer edged a tight first set from compatriot Feliciano Lopez, who had won six of their eight previous hard-court meetings.  The drama dwindled thereafter, however, as Ferrer soared through the second set with ease.  And the drama never arrived in victories by Grigor Dimitrov and Andy Murray, much more impressive than in his uneven three-set affair of the night before.  

Scheduled to end on Saturday as Indian Wells looms, Acapulco will feature an entertaining lineup of quarterfinals.  A contrast of styles between an outstanding server and an agile returner will pit Anderson against Ferrer in a rematch of Anderson’s upset at Indian Wells last year.  Also creating a striking contrast are Ivo Karlovic’s metronomic serve and Dolgopolov’s endless imagination. Simon’s tireless counterpunching will test Murray’s consistency and energy level early in his return from surgery.  But the most intriguing quarterfinal pits Gulbis against Dimitrov in a battle of explosive young talents vying to spearhead an assault on the established order. 

Fans can watch all of the Acapulco quarterfinals on ESPN3, starting at 5 PM Eastern time.