South Africa’s Kevin Anderson continued his good run at the French Open with a convincing four-set victory over Australian Nick Kyrgios in Paris.

The 22-year-old Kyrgios lost 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 to the big-serving South African, and was on the brink of tears when asked to recall memories of Christos Kyrgios who passed away in April after a long battle with cancer.

The family tragedy forced Kyrgios to dash back home, cancelling the start of his clay-court season in Estoril before jetting pack to Europe in the build-up to Roland Garros.

‘After my grandpa’s passing, I just lost a lot of motivation to do anything really,’ said Kyrgios whose frustration boiled over as he slid to defeat, smashing a racquet on a courtside chair and picking up a penalty point for his troubles.

When he was asked to talk about his relationship with his grandfather, Kyrgios was on the verge of tears and called a swift halt to his press conference.

‘It was tough back home. I can’t talk about it, I can’t,’ he said.

Anderson said he was able to take advantage of Kyrgios’ meltdown to record his second win in two meetings with the Australian, having also come back from a set down to win in Chengdu, China last year.

‘I was in his head after winning that second set,’ admitted Anderson.

‘He was struggling with his own battles, I didn’t give him a way to get back in the match. So it’s something that I knew I needed to do, and I thought I was able to execute that very well today.’

Anderson, ranked at 56 in the world, made the most of the 18th-seeded Australian’s 42 unforced errors to progress to the third round where he will face Britain’s Kyle Edmund.

Anderson has gone as far as the fourth round in Paris in 2013 and 2014.

I feel like each week I’m playing better and better tennis,’ said the South African. My body feels really strong and healthy, which is the biggest focus.’

Elsewhere, world No 1 Andy Murray came from a set down to beat unseeded Slovakian Martin Klizan in the second round.

The Briton won 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) and goes on to face Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.

Del Potro, seeded 29th after his own injury struggles, went through when his opponent Nicolas Almagro retired at one set all.

Asked about facing former US Open champion Del Potro as early as the third round, Murray said: ‘It’s a tough match. In my opinion he’s one of the best players in the world.’

Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images