Anderson Fulfils Long-Time Goal, Enjoying Nitto ATP Finals Build-up

Kevin Anderson is making the most of his first appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, working hard on the court in preparation for the season finale and also enjoying his time in London.

“It’s important for me to enjoy being here too,” said Anderson on Friday. “The main priority is the tennis, but as I arrived here a week before the start, it’s important for me to train and then be able to switch off and do something else – visiting attractions.

“It’s been a very enjoyable few days so far, not just for me but also my team. We went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It was a really great day for us.”

As South Africa’s first participant for 23 years, Anderson has enjoyed a career-best year including two ATP World Tour titles at the New York Open (d. Querrey) in February and also at the Erste Bank Open 500 in Vienna (d. Nishikori) last month. His previous-best finish to a campaign came in 2015, when he was year-end No. 12 in the ATP Rankings.

“It means a lot and it’s a goal of mine for a pretty long time,” said Anderson, who sits in sixth position in the 2018 ATP Race To London. “I’ve been close a couple of times. It’s something that’s very important to me. It’s such a great event with the top eight players in the world. I’ve been watching this tournament since I was a little kid.

“It’s fantastic to be here for the first time. I’ve done some fun things this week and as we get closer to closer to the tournament starting, it’s essential that I focus on the tennis. I’ve got the prepare to play my best tennis as it’ll come down to the day.

“I’ve achieved some of my goals. Winning two tournaments in a year was one of them and it was great to win my first [ATP World Tour] 500-level tournament in Vienna last month. I would have liked to have competed in a few Masters 1000 finals, but I reached a couple of semi-finals. That was important for me, as I will set new goals for next year.”

At 32 years, six months, Anderson is also the fifth oldest first-time Nitto ATP Finals singles qualifier, behind Australia’s Ken Rosewall (36, at the inaugural 1970 event in Tokyo) Andres Gimeno (35) and Bob Hewitt (32), who both competed at the 1972 event in Barcelona, and also another first-year participant in 2018, John Isner (33).

Anderson plays Dominic Thiem in the first Group Lleyton Hewitt round-robin match on Sunday afternoon.