Anderson faces Del Potro in Mexican Open final

Kevin Anderson will take on Juan Martin Del Potro on Saturday in the final of the Mexican Open in Acapulco. Anderson wore down the 21-year-old American qualifier Jared Donaldson 6-3 4-6 6-3 in their semi-final on Friday night.

Kevin Anderson is seeking his second consecutive tournament victory. USA Today/Jerry Lai

Andeson; 31, has never mastered Del Potro in their previous six meetings. But the fifth seed will broach the final full of confidence following a run of eight wins during which he lifted the inaugural New York Open two weeks ago.

"When you're out there, you're not really thinking about finals and what happened before,” said Anderson, who has enjoyed a rise up the lists to world number eight.

In January 2017, the South African was ranked 80^th due to a variety of injuries. But with those ailments seemingly dispatched, he has rocketed to the upper echelons of the game.

He will need to be in full control of his formidable array of weapons when he takes on the sixth seeded Del Potro who overpowered second seed Alexander Zverev 6-4 6-2 in 91 minutes on Friday.

“It is amazing for me,” Del Potro told Tennis TV. “I’ve been playing good tennis this week but there is one more step to go.

“Hopefully I can play even better because Kevin is a great player and is playing well. We’ve never played in a final so it is going to be a big challenge.”