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Kevin Anderson (SA)

27K views 124 replies 34 participants last post by  FedalCastro 
#1 · (Edited)
This guy from South Africa looks well on his way to making an impression in professional tennis. He is 21 years old (18/05/1986) and did well in the US college circuit earlier this year (2007). In the month of June he won a strong futures tournament and reached the final in another. Today he is in the final of Winnetka Challenger after coming through qualifying and probably has a good chance to win this event.

He is tall (1.95) and slim but I don't know much about how he plays. But his form profile and improvement looks very promising. Currently ranked 419 he will get into the 200's next week and should get into the top-200 this year, maybe even better.
 
#87 · (Edited)
Hi. I had a chance to do a super quick interview with Kevin in Memphis and I though you guys might like to see it. :wavey:

Tennis Idol: “Pete Sampras. He was such an inspiration and I loved watching him play. In fact I was lucky enough in 2008 to be invited to have lunch with him at his house in Beverly Hills. It was a great feeling for me.”

Favorite Music/Songs on Ipod: “Rap, Eminem, Classic 80s and even a little 70s (Abba!)”

Nicknames: “Kev Dog and Kevo”

Sports Outside of Tennis: “Since I played college tennis at Illinois I became an (American) football fan when I was in school there. Also I am a big Chicago Bears fan and try to catch their games when I am traveling and during the off season.”

Dream Doubles Partner: “Well I guess maybe someone who plays a similar style of tennis to me. A big hitter. Actually, though, maybe I would just want to play with Federer.”

How About Mixed Doubles: “Hmmm I don’t want to just give the expected answer here. Maybe I shouldn’t answer this one.”

Special Pre-Match Rituals: “None really. Sometimes I listen to music or just try to stay relaxed and positive.”

Friends on Tour: “Well I am close to all the South African guys even though I don’t get to see them as much now. Also Ryler DeHeart, who I played with at Illinois, Michael Russell and Somdev Devvarman. I like all the Americans really but it’s tough to have very close friends on the tour because they are all your competitors at the end of the day.”

Kevin comes from a close family and his parents were inspirational in helping him get where he is today. His fiancee from Chicago is a great support as well. Younger brother Gregory also plays tennis at Morehead State University in Kentucky. He has reached a career high singles ranking of 40 after winning his first ATP title in Johannesburg this year. Follow him on twitter at @ Kevinanderson18.

http://tennis-prose.com/articles/biofile-with-kevin-anderson/

 
#89 ·
Given the lack of posts the past year on Kevin, he's definitely deserving of a full rundown of how he's gotten to the point he's at today in his career. 2011 was a breakout season for Kevin at the ATP tour with a 42-27 record and his first career title in his home country tournament in Johannesburg. Kevin made his first career QF in a Masters 1000 event in Miami, defeating Davydenko and Isner along the way. He also advanced to two SFs in Brisbane and Vienna, and five other QF appearances outside of Miami, as well as defeated Murray in the second round of Montreal. He finished 2011 a career-high #32 in the ranking.

He has started 2012 maintaining the same consistency he had during 2011, with an 11-6 record and earning his second career title in Delray Beach, beating Roddick and Isner in back-to-back rounds before defeating Matosevic in the finals. He has also made the QF of San Jose and R3 of the Australian Open. Kevin reached a career-high #28 a few weeks ago and is currently ranked #33 in the rankings.

Kevin has been a very consistent player the last few years and it's only a matter of time before he make a big run on a big stage. In the meantime, as long as injuries or a loss of confidence don't get in the way, Kevin looks very capable of maintaining his very consistent results and becoming a mainstay in the top 30/35 of the rankings. Kevin received a WC into Houston next week, and that will be his next event as the tour heads to clay. Kevin went 5-6 on clay last season so he'll be looking to improve that number in 2012. GL to Kevin in Texas!
 
#90 ·
There has been some controversy regarding Kevin's decision to apply for a US green card and withdraw from the South African Davis Cup squad. Read from the man himself as to why he made the decision:

Anderson says why he cannot play Davis Cup
South African tennis player busy applying for a green card and cannot leave the US

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=168768

DURBAN — South African tennis player Kevin Anderson has defended his decision to withdraw from the Davis Cup team for this weekend’s match against Slovenia and doubt remains as to whether he will represent the country in future ties.

Anderson, who is based in the US, is in the process of applying for an American green card and this means he cannot leave the country while the application is being processed.

SA suffered further blows with the withdrawal of world No124 Rik de Voest and ladies star Chanelle Scheepers for the Fed Cup, the women’s corresponding tournament.

SA’s bid for a place in the Davis Cup World Group for the first time since 1998 is at risk of falling at the first hurdle, unless the young and inexperienced squad can upset the Slovenians in Soweto. Also, none of SA’s top tennis players will be eligible to represent the country at the London Olympic Games in July.

International Tennis Federation rules stipulate that only players who have made themselves available for Davis Cup or Fed Cup action in two of the past four years will be eligible to compete in the games.

Anderson, who married an American last year, told Business Day that the green card would enable him to travel in and out of the US easier than with other visas.

"The main reason I withdrew from the Davis Cup is that I am in the process of applying for a green card, which takes three to four months," Anderson said. "During this time you are not allowed to leave the US.

"After three years I am eligible for citizenship, and I will most likely apply for dual citizenship. In order to play Davis Cup for another country you need to be a permanent citizen, not be a resident — which is what the green card offers."

Anderson rose to a career best world No28 ranking after winning the Delray Beach title in February — knocking out top Americans Andy Roddick and John Isner — for his second ATP career title.

"Every decision I have made thus far has been what is best for my career, on and off the court," he said. "I believe this has helped me get to where I am now and will help me get to where I want to get.

"Moving forward, I will have the same feelings, where if I can play Davis Cup I will, as long as it doesn't affect my schedule and is financially viable. I fully understand and support Chani’s (Chanelle Scheepers’s) position and decisions she has had to make along the way.

"Tennis is a tough sport, played far away from the home soil of SA …. We are forced to base ourselves in other countries. We unfortunately do not have the backing and support from Tennis SA and so therefore need to make decisions based on what is best for our careers."

While the Johannesburg-born star has consistently risen to prominence on the world tennis circuit over the past year, the game in SA has steadily suffered setbacks.

Last year, the South African Open was scrapped from the ATP tour calendar to ease the playing schedule and this year’s Sowetan Open was cancelled after the City of Johannesburg pulled its funding.

Tennis SA president Bongani Zondi said the organisation’s focus would be on developing more young and capable players who can carry the national flag in the absence of prominent stars.

He also dismissed Anderson’s claims that the organisation had failed to provide the necessary support to tennis players, adding that Tennis SA had always contributed to players’ expenses "even if the financial support was not 100%".

"I have told the (Tennis SA) board that we need to produce more players," Zondi said.

"We must have a pool of more than 10 players that play at the highest level, so that we don’t have headaches when we have situations such as the one we are facing.

"That is why we have even brought in young players for this weekend’s tie.

"We want to develop those players, even if we lose the tie; the bigger picture is that they will have gained valuable experience."
 
#97 ·
It's time to reactive this thread I recently discovered :inlove:

Kev showing us his skills with his fresh cool guitar, jamming a bit with the Bryans. What a lovely sound!

https://twitter.com/Bryanbros/status/622580765281394689


Apart from jamming, Kev obviously is training to get fit for the HC-swing in North America back at his home in Florida. Something I learned a few days back is KAndy's fav film is 'Ghost', never expected to be honest.

Here some Florida pics Kev posted:







Go on Kev! Atlanta's waiting for you, tournament starts in the next week and it seems he'll be #1 seeded. :worship:
 
#98 ·
Unfortunately a very meh match against Zverev who started to take things serious and played quite well against an off-Anderson in the last two sets. Well, had to close it out in two, but it doesn't matter, Kev. Next time you'll do better :hug:
 
#103 ·
I just thought that I’d list KAndo’s potential AO road ahead. Kevin’s string of bad luck in 2016 continues with an absolutely heinous draw extracted from deepest bowels of Hell.

In his current state, I don’t think the KAndy Man will be making past the 3rd round this year. I’d love to be proven wrong though, but to say that he looks bad right now is an understatement.

Rd 1-Ram

Rd2- Qualifier

Rd3- Monfils

Rd4- Nadal

QF- Wawrinka

SF- Murray

F- Djokovic
 
#104 ·
Very great I'm not the only one out here, otherwise I fast lose interest on writing here as I think nobody cares about it. @FedalCastro here again very welcome to the KAndy-thread :D

Back to KAndy:



and



KAndy-experts already knew it, as we already talked about his injury right before the first Slam. Nevertheless he seems in good shape physically and mentally despite being injured. I'm really looking forward to seeing Kev healthy again, I think he'll be at it again later on. :cool:
 
#108 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well, he’s in a massive free-fall now. He’ll probably withdraw from Acapulco, IW, and Miami as well. He claimed that his long-lasting knee problem has no permanent medical solution and can only be mitigated, and now his shoulder. Given how injury-prone he is his career could be close to being over, especially since he’s going to be hitting 30 soon.
 
#109 ·
I mean I just played tennis elbow with peak KAndy on clay and it was so awesome. Watched a few highlights against Kei, Murray and Djokovic last year. Man, when he's peaking it's so beautiful, I really don't want to miss it. I'm kinda worried too and close to give my hopes up tbh :sad:
 
#111 ·
What a shame, especially since he was defending sf points from last year. I hope that he'll finally be fit for IW and Miami, he really needs a good run at both of those events to get back on track and salvage what has been the worst possible start to the season.
 
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