In May of 2022, long-time professional Kevin Anderson retired from the sport saying, “tennis carried me far beyond my roots in Johannesburg, South Africa and truly gave me the world. I’ve experienced so many different challenges and emotions; this sport can be exhilarating and at the same time lonely. I’ve had ups and downs, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. My journey helped me become the man who I am today.”
Anderson left the sport having reached two grand slam finals, seven ATP titles, and a peak of world no. 5 in a career that spanned 15 years.
Last week, Anderson returned to the sport he loves in Newport, where he reached the quarterfinals of the Newport 250 event. The 37-year-old accepted a wild card at the ATP 250 Infosys Hall of Fame Open. His last action before this was the Miami Masters in 2022.
The 6’8” South African-born Anderson rode his big serve to the quarters where he fell to Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-4.
(J. Kamin-Oncea / Usa Today Sports/Presse Sports)
Anderson had told the ATP website, that a meeting with Roger Federer in Delray Beach put the thought of a comeback in his mind.
“I ended up having a great conversation with Roger and for the first time, I felt just really at ease and [was] having a normal conversation. It was fascinating listening to him, arguably the best player of all time in terms of his ball striking, and just hearing the insights he had, it was a really cool experience.
I didn’t really put that together [in terms of coming back]. I think before that I was kind of thinking of, ‘Maybe I should come back.”
Anderson has a different perspective in his second career. He has indicated that due to not having a ranking (which is currently world no. 645) he will have to enter tournaments on wild cards but does plan to compete. He has indicated that he will focus more on the journey, the challenges, and learning through the process, rather than the results.
Looking forward to seeing where the 2017 US Open finalist and 2018 Wimbledon finalist competes next.
