Kevin Anderson · Biography

On 13 July 2018, on Wimbledon’s Centre Court, Kevin Anderson and John Isner played a semi-final lasting 6 hours and 36 minutes, which the South African won 7-6, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4, 26-24. It was the second-longest match in Grand Slam history and the longest semi-final ever played at one of the four majors. Kevin Michael Anderson, born on 18 May 1986 in Johannesburg, South Africa, a right-hander with a two-handed backhand who stands 2.03 metres tall, reached his second Grand Slam final in less than a year that summer.

College years at Illinois

Anderson entered his first professional event at 17, but he completed his development at the University of Illinois, where he played three seasons of college tennis. He was a three-time All-American in singles and a two-time All-American in doubles, and in 2006 he won the NCAA doubles title with Ryan Rowe. In 2007 Illinois finished runner-up to Georgia in the team championship; in that final Anderson lost the No. 1 singles match to John Isner, the same opponent he would face in London eleven years later. That year he also won the New Orleans Challenger in both singles and doubles and finished the season ranked 221st.

First ATP titles

In 2008 he made his Grand Slam main-draw debut at the Australian Open, reached his first ATP final in Las Vegas, where he lost to Sam Querrey, and earned his first top-10 win by beating Novak Djokovic in Miami. That summer he represented South Africa at the Beijing Olympics, losing in the second round to Nicolas Kiefer. His first title came at home: in 2011 he won the South African Open in Johannesburg, beating Somdev Devvarman, another rival from his college days, in the final. The same year he played in the Davis Cup play-off round. He added Delray Beach in 2012, defeating Marinko Matosevic, and Winston-Salem in 2015 for his third trophy.

Top 10 and the New York final

In 2015 he reached the US Open quarter-finals and became the first South African in the top 10 in 18 years. His 2016 season was disrupted by problems with his left knee, shoulder and ankle, but in 2017 he reached his first Grand Slam final. At the 2017 US Open he lost the final to Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. That summer he was also runner-up in Washington.

2018, his best season

In February 2018 he won the inaugural New York Open, coming from a set down to beat Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. At Wimbledon he knocked out top seed Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, 2-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-4, 13-11, after saving a match point, and became the first South African man in the semi-finals since Kevin Curren in 1983. After the marathon against Isner, he lost the 2018 Wimbledon final to Djokovic 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. On 16 July 2018 he rose to world No. 5, his career high. In October he won Vienna, beating Kei Nishikori 6-3, 7-6, the biggest title of his career, which secured his place at the ATP Finals in London, where he reached the semi-finals.

Playing style

His game was built on the serve: his height let him serve regularly above 130 mph with a high, awkward bounce. From the baseline he hit flat and hard, looked to step inside the court early and was comfortable finishing points at the net. The return was the less reliable part of his game.

Injuries, retirement and return

In January 2019 he won in Pune against Ivo Karlović, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, in the tallest final in ATP history, and that year he received the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award. In February 2020 he had surgery on a torn meniscus in his right knee. He won again in July 2021 in Newport, beating Jenson Brooksby 7-6, 6-4 for his seventh title and his 350th tour-level win. On 3 May 2022 he announced his retirement, ranked 107th. In 2023 he returned on a wildcard in Newport, where he reached the quarter-finals, and then lost in the first round in Washington and in qualifying at the 2023 US Open.