by Randy Walker
@TennisPublisher
Kevin Anderson, the former U.S. Open and Wimbledon finalist, announced his retirement from the ATP Tour on Tuesday, May 3 at age 35 and appeared at a special event and exhibition match that night at The Boulevard Tennis Club in Vero Beach, Florida.
Anderson hit and spoke with local kids in Vero Beach, participated in a question and answer session with famed sports physical therapist and trainer Gary Kitchell, then paired with Hall of Famer Mats Wilander to play against Mikael Pernfors and former Mexican Davis Cupper Dani Garza.
Anderson told Kitchell, and a crowd of about 500 fans at The Boulevard, about his career and the reason for his retirement.
“We met in, I think we said 2016,” said Kitchell to Anderson. “You were in a pretty lull period or part of your career, contemplating retirement with a knee injury, little shoulder, little ankle. We talked about the pros and cons of surgery, and obviously the tale of the tape is in the fact that 2017, 2018, you have a major resurgence, become five in the world, you make these finals. Tell us what it was like to move from that period of quite a bit of self-doubt to where, how did you manage then to make such a resurgence and become a dominating force on the tour?”
Responded Anderson, “It was definitely very up and down work for me during those few years. I went back little bit then, I broke in the top 10 for the first time, I think I might have been the second oldest to do that, behind Jürgen Melzer by a month or so. I was really pretty well into my career and I made quarterfinals in a Grand Slam for the first time at US Open. Finishing that year, there’s a lot of positives, and you go into the off season really motivated. I remember at the beginning of 2016, I was just plagued by injuries from the very first actually exhibition event that I did, and pretty much throughout the year.
“It went from my knee to my shoulder, I remember, and it was just tough from being at my career high then to being at the lowest ranking I’d been in maybe four or five years. I’d say looking back at it, even though there might have been times where I feel like it was difficult, there was still that passion, that fire was burning in me to give it my best to try and come back. It wasn’t easy, I remember in 2017, some pretty tough results early on, I missed the Australian Open that year. I actually remember being on the courts with my coach and good friend Jay Bosworth, and I really had to make some pretty big changes in my mentality.
“I was always very critical, as I was saying earlier, I really worked hard, but I had to try and find the switch of just believing in my game a little bit more and finding ways to be more positive. I really embraced that challenge as much as I could, I became very vocal on the court, which I think was a pretty big change for a lot of people watching me playing, but it was something that I needed to do. It wasn’t because I was trying to get in my opponents’ face, it was just because I needed to get that way just to allow myself to play my best tennis. Then from about midway through 2017 to the end of 2018, it was a very special 18 months for me, a couple Grand Slam finals, my highest ranking.
“Then unfortunately, something very similar happened to me in 2019, just the same injuries. I think that’s part of the reason I decided to stop this last month. That fire just to get it done just wasn’t the same. It’s a sport with such small margins, it’s point here and point there wins or loses matches, and I just felt it was time to move on. I think it’s just I’ve had a great support system, my parents have always believed in me, my wife’s been amazing. I have a lot of belief in myself, that’s why it was difficult to retire, because I kept wanting to go and go and go, but that definitely got me through the ups and downs of my career.”
