Cape Town - Kevin Anderson will be confident heading into his US Open round of 16 encounter against Austria's Dominic Thiem on Sunday.

The fifth-seeded South African reached the fourth round after a thrilling five-set win over rising Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov on Friday.

Anderson now takes on the ninth-seeded Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals.

The tall South African lost the pair’s most recent encounter at the Madrid Masters 6-4, 6-2 on clay, but will be confident as he boasts a 6-1 win-record against Thiem in matches played on the ATP World Tour.

Crucially, Anderson’s six wins over Thiem all came on hard courts which could tilt the scales in the South African’s favour.

Thiem is an accomplished clay court player - he reached the French Open final earlier this year - but is yet to truly convince on other surfaces.

Thiem on Friday made the last 16 for the fourth time in five years with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory over American Taylor Fritz.

Thiem has now put together three wins in a row for the first time since finishing runner-up to world No 1 Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros.

Anderson and Shapovalov, meanwhile, made a little history on Friday by playing the first match under the roof of Louis Armstrong Stadium.

“It was another hard and long match and credit to Denis for playing real solid tennis. Denis is a rising star and to have played the way he did as a 19-year-old is impressive. I was really pleased to be part of history playing the first points and match under the new Louis Armstrong Stadium (roof),” said Anderson.

The 32-year-old Anderson has reached the final of two of the past four majors after reaching just one quarter-final in his previous 33 attempts.

He's into the Round of 16 in New York for the third time in four years and a victory over Thiem could see him face Nadal in the quarter-finals.