Atlanta, United States, 26 July 2013 | tennis.com.au

Matthew Ebden has given second seed Kevin Anderson a scare before going down in three sets at the BB&T Atlanta Open on Thursday.

Ebden took the first set in a tense tiebreak before falling to the South African 6-7(7) 6-2 6-2 in the second round of the first Emirates US Open Series event of the North American summer.

The serve was crucial throughout the encounter – while Anderson banged 16 aces during the match, Ebden struggled with nine double faults and faced nine break points, dropping serve four times.

By contrast, the 203cm-tall Anderson faced no break points, wrapping up victory in one hour and 53 minutes.

Anderson will take on Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the quarterfinals.

Ebden’s compatriots Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione combined to win their doubles quarterfinal on Thursday in Atlanta, defeating Rajeev Ram and Ken Skupski 6-1 6-2.