He's back: 2017 US Open men's singles finalist Kevin Anderson has announced a comeback to professional tennis, and that it'll begin in just over week at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open in Newport.
South African Anderson, now 37, won the title in Newport in 2021, which was his last tournament victory before he announced his retirement last May. He last competed at the Miami Open last spring, making his return in Newport his first competitive action in
“When I retired, it was tough. I was dealing with a lot of physical pain. Just a lot of parts of the body were really making it difficult to compete the way I wanted to, but also emotionally and mentally it was very challenging and I felt like I needed to stop playing,” Anderson told the ATP website in announcing his comeback. “When I retired I didn’t know if I was going to play again or not. Most of last year I wasn’t planning to. But a couple months ago I started hitting again and just really enjoyed being out there.
“My body felt much better and what I was doing with the tennis ball was really exciting to me and made me want to challenge myself again. I didn’t know if I’d have that opportunity but fortunately Newport has given me one, so I wanted to go out there and play again.”
Main-draw play at the Infosys Hall of Fame Open, a US Open Series event, begins July 17. Other players expected to play include four-time champion John Isner, defending champion Maxime Cressy, 2023 Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul and last week's Mallorca champion, Christopher Eubanks.
Former world No. 5 Anderson was the first South African to crack the singles Top 5 on the ATP Tour in more than 30 years when he reached his all-time best in 2018. In a 15-year professional career before his sabbatical, he reached two Grand Slam finals, in New York in 2017 and at Wimbledon in 2018, and won seven career ATP singles titles. He also reached the US Open quarterfinals in 2015.
Prior to playing professional tennis, the South African played college tennis at the University of Illinois, where he was a three-time All-American in singles and two-time All-American in doubles.
Anderson isn't the only former US Open finalist to announce a comeback in recent weeks: Two-time runner-up Caroline Wozniacki, a former world No. 1 and the 2018 Australian Open champion, announced last week that she will return after a three-year retirement this summer, and has already been awarded a wild card to the Open.
