South Africa's Kevin Anderson has reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second year in a row after beating Leonardo Mayer of Argentina in three closely-fought sets.

The 14th seed made a quick start, with Mayer struggling to return his big serves, while giving Anderson an early break, which was enough for him to serve for the opener a few games later.

The 24th seed looked more settled in the second, resulting in the set being decided on a tie-break, in which Mayer saved a string of set points before eventually succumbing to an Anderson winner.

Anderson served first in the third set, and pushed hard for an early break as he tried to wrap the match up, but the Argentine battled hard to save a run of break points in a lengthy game.

At 4-3 down with the set still on serve, Mayer was tested again with some solid returning from Anderson, giving the South African the break, which allowed him to serve it out in the next game.

Anderson will face the winner of the match between Bernard Tomic and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the next round.