South African Kevin Anderson had reached the round of 16 of a Grand Slam seven times previously, never able to break through to a quarterfinal, while 2012 US Open champion Andy Murray was looking for his 19th consecutive major quarterfinal today. Anderson played beautifully aggressive tennis to astonish the New York crowd and Murray to reach his first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal winning 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0).

Coming into the US Open, both players carried immense momentum from the summer hard court season. Murray defeated Novak Djokovic to win the Rogers Cup, and then reached the semifinals in Cincinnati, losing to Roger Federer. Anderson grabbed his third career title at the Winston-Salem Open, building an eight match win streak coming into the match.

Both players dominated on serve in the first set, neither player facing a single break point. Anderson impressed early with his aggressive play, hitting eight aces and 27 winners. A double fault from Murray gave the South African a mini-break in the tiebreaker, and Anderson took the first set with a blistering down-the-line forehand winner.

Anderson carried the momentum into second set, hitting a spectacular lob behind a drop shot to break Murray to go up 2-0. The 15th seed broke again with a colossal forehand winner up 4-1, taking complete control of the set. Murray impressively regrouped in the next game to break Anderson, and held to remain the set at 3-5. Anderson served for the set at 5-3, bombing an enormous ace down the middle to build a two-sets-to-love lead.

After Anderson took the second set, many questions appeared. Can Anderson close out a big match against a top player? The South African had previously been up two-sets-to-love in the fourth round at Wimbledon against Djokovic, but cracked under pressure to lose in five sets. Murray’s fitness was also in question, as the Scot had to come back from two-sets-to-love down in his second round match against Adrian Mannarino.

Anderson took a five minute bathroom break after the second set, leaving the fiery Scot impatiently furious. Clearly affected, Murray dropped his first service game, adding rather colorful commentary that cannot be quoted in this article. The third seed broke back in the next game, held, and then broke again to go up 3-1. The drama-loving New York crowd appreciated the Scot’s fight, firmly getting on his side chanting, “Let’s go Andy, let’s go!” However, Anderson maintained his resilience and broke back, smashing winners with his potent forehand, while Murray smashed his racquet into the ground.

Both players held serve into the tiebreak, where Murray charged to a 4-1 lead with a lucky net cord winner. With the crowd chanting his name, the Scot took the tiebreak 7-2 to push the match into a fourth set. The dramatic third set featured four breaks of serve and 33 winners.

With the momentum firmly on Murray’s side, pressure seemed to mount on the big-serving Anderson. However, the South African stayed true to his game and remained aggressive. Murray continued to cathartically release emotion after almost every point, either cursing at his camp or screaming “come on!” depending on the point’s outcome. The match provided a sharp contrast in personalities and temperaments, as Anderson remained calm and composed throughout the entire match, rarely displaying any signs of emotion.

The tightness in Anderson’s legs only seemed to help his game, forcing him to go for bigger serves and winners. In the tiebreak, the South African produced his best tennis of the match when needed most, winning every point to take the match, 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(0). The 15th seed hit an astonishing 25 aces and 81 winners, and won 41 of 58 points at net. His serve statistics were mind blowing, as he averaged a second serve speed of 107 mph, faster than some players’ first serve average.

Anderson described the win as the “match of his life” in his post-match interview, finally breaking through to a Grand Slam quarterfinal defeating a top player. Murray disappointingly made his earliest exit at a Grand Slam in five years, and has failed to reach the semifinals since winning the US Open back in 2012.

Anderson faces French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, who defeated Donald Young in the round of 16. The South African has a four match winning streak over the fifth seed, but will go into the match with much more time on court throughout the first four rounds. No matter the outcome, the 15th seed should feel accomplished with his first ever quarterfinal berth at a major.