Two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson retired from tennis in February 2022 but his competitive fires didn’t burn out.
The 2021 Newport champion said he stopped playing completely for mine months and dedicated time to other fitness pursuits and some golf.
It wasn’t until a couple of months ago a friend asked to hit and Anderson obliged and said he exceeded expectations in how well he hit the ball.
Then the opportunity presented itself to play Newport. Anderson, now 37, played his first singles match today since retiring versus Canadian Gabriel Diallo, who won a Challenger last summer in Kentucky. (Anderson lost yesterday in doubles 64 75 playing with NCAA champion Ethan Quinn to JP Smith and Robert Galloway.)
Anderson actually looked as good as ever and scored the 63 62 win. He moved very well, the serve and forehand are still monstrous. The only hiccup was failing to serve out the win at 63 61 but broke Diallo in the next and last game.
The key game was at 63 10 with Diallo serving and it extended to over ten deuces until Anderson finally clinched it when Diallo netted a forehand. Anderson let out a big roar, one of several in the match.
After the win, Anderson said he was very happy with how he played and how his body feels. But he made no revelation about any long term goals.
Anderson will play the winner of Max Purcell and Gijs Brouwer.
“Coming back now, honestly, there’s a lot of uncertainties. I don’t have a ranking, I’m relying on potentially getting a few wild cards during the summer. So I’m going to come out and compete, for sure,” Anderson said. “But to be honest, the result isn’t my primary goal. The primary goal is really to learn through this process. There’ll be a lot of different challenges to face along the way that I’m really kind of keeping my eyes focussed on and there’s a lot of experiences that you come across and as much as you can keep learning from them, I think that’s one of the keys. That’s what I try to do, so that’s what I’ll be doing as much as I can as long as I have some opportunities to keep playing.”
Anderson turned pro in 2007, won seven ATP singles titles and over $17m in prize money and his best ranking was no. 5.
Kevin Anderson · Newport · Wimbledon
