The head of South African Tennis has acknowledged that his federation hasn’t supported Kevin Anderson’s career sufficiently enough.
Richard Glover, who joined Tennis South Africa (TSA) last year, believes the world No.15 could have been managed better in recent years. Anderson is the only player from his country ranked in the world’s top 200. So far in his career, he has reached 13 finals on the ATP Tour, winning three trophies.
“After having spoken to Kevin, his mother, as well as several TSA stalwarts, who have been in the system for years, I have come to conclude that – while our federation has supported Kevin more than most people realise, on balance we have not supported him enough.” Sport24.co.za quoted Glover as saying.
“In short, both he and his family have made huge sacrifices to get him to where he is today. This is their triumph – not ours.”
The comments come just days after Anderson reached the final of the US Open. It was the first time a South African player has been in a major final at the US Open since 1965. In grand slam tennis, he was the first South African finalist since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open.
Leading up the New York final, the 31-year-old said he wanted to inspire a new generation of players in his native country. The only South African to ever win a grand slam title was Johan Kriek, who triumphed twice at the Australian Open during the early 1980s.
“My biggest hope is that I’m able to inspire kids to play the sport. It’s very tough coming from South Africa, far from the scene. I take a lot of — it makes me feel good that I can hopefully fly a flag and show kids that if you work hard you can get there.” Anderson said in New York last week.
The approach by the 6’8” player has been praised by Glover, who describes him as an ‘ambassador’ to the sport.
“Personally, I do not think Kevin has received the credit he deserves in South Africa (excluding the last few days of course!). He is a great ambassador for our sport – he is an intelligent and thoughtful man, a person of class, quality and character, who cares about the country of his birth.” He stated about the US Open runner-up.
Anderson now lives Florida, America with his wife Kelsey. Heading into the Asian swing of the season, he has achieved a win-loss record of 29-16 so far.
