Life is clearly more than just tennis for Kevin Anderson
South Africa's kingpin's form on the court is red-hot, but he's using his London adventure for initiatives outside of the sport.
South Africa’s Kevin Anderson reacts after a point against Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their men’s singles round-robin match on day three of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London on November 13, 2018. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)
Kevin Anderson is obviously gunning for a prestigious ATP Finals title in London given his ominous form on the court to date.
But South Africa’s tennis kingpin clearly also wants to use his adventure in the UK to inspire and help others.
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From a development perspective, the 32-year-old hopes he can serve as a role model to local youngsters trying to make their way in the cutthroat world of professional tennis.
“Hopefully, I’m a source of inspiration for kids growing up in South Africa to pick up a tennis racquet and hopefully we’ll see,” Anderson told the ATP’s official website.
“I worked really hard as a kid. It is not easy. It is far from the tennis world, the tennis scene growing up in South Africa. Here I am having achieved a lot of my dreams.”
Anderson, who put up an exhibition on Tuesday in downing Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-0 6-1, is also the embodiment of a professional athlete only reaching the peak of his power later on in his career.
Indeed, most of the Johannesburg-born player’s success came after 30.
“It takes a lot of time, it is not going to happen overnight. Hopefully, in the next five or 10 years we will see men and women players coming out of South Africa,” he said.
Furthermore, the now US-based Anderson is going to use his biggest weapon on the court, his massive serve, to aid in the fight against the wildfires that have devastated California.
According to a Facebook post, he’ll donate $100 for every ace he serves in London.
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