Kevin Anderson has admitted that he learned a "tough lesson" in a straight-sets loss to Stanislas Wawrinka in their US Open quarter-final.

Wawrinka kept his campaign alive in New York with a 6-4 6-4 6-0 victory, and despite losing in emphatic fashion in the last-eight clash, Anderson insists that he will take the positives from reaching his first Grand Slam quarter-final.

"It's a very tough lesson for me today and, you know, it's difficult not to think about it, but obviously I have got to take what I can. This week has been a great week for me, the last two weeks. There is a lot of positives," the South African told reporters.

"I always try to look at that to obviously keep motivated and keep improving."

Wawrinka will take on Roger Federer in the last four after the second seed claimed a comfortable win over Richard Gasquet.