Kevin Anderson takes unlikely route to Miami Open Round of 16, tennis success

Kids sometimes do things when they are young that end up shaping the rest of their life.

Such is the case with Kevin Anderson, the No. 7-ranked tennis player in the world who advanced on Monday to the Round of 16 in the Miami Open at Hard Rock Stadium with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Joao Sousa of Portugal.

Anderson’s tennis career started in unlikely fashion in South Africa. There were no tennis courts nearby for him and his friends to play and practice on, so they did what kids do best — they improvised.

“Basically,” Anderson said, reaching back in his memory, “we would tie a tennis ball to a string, attach it to a pole and whack away at it.”

Eventually, they found a wall they could hit against.

Then came that glorious day when the family moved to a house with a tennis court.

“We would play thousands and thousands of hours on that court,” Anderson recalled.

When he was 12 years old or so and playing junior tennis, Anderson got to compete against some pretty good competition, and that included Rafael Nadal.

“Yes, he beat me,” Anderson said. “Think it was on clay in a tournament in Barcelona.”

Anderson’s love for hitting a tennis ball as a kid has paid off. At age 32, he has won $15,899,649, won six championships and reached the final of two majors, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Not to mention getting a college degree at the University of Illinois.

Such accomplishments have Anderson standing tall in the game. Actually, he just plain and simple stands tall since he checks in at 6-8.

“I consider my height an advantage,” Anderson said. “Particularly on the serve. The height allows you to create good angles and also helps your power. Even so, I practice my serves with tens of thousands of repetitions.

“Tennis is getting a lot of players who are 6-5 or 6-6,” Anderson continued. “Tall players are becoming more common.”

Are there any downsides for being an overly tall person in tennis?

“Some people would say the challenge is on the movement side,” Anderson offered. “However, it seems the bigger stride length would be an advantage. Perhaps the tough part is in changing directions.”

The Miami Open is Anderson’s first tournament competition in nine weeks as he has been nursing an elbow injury. Anderson admitted to being concerned about his elbow when his match Monday against Sousa was interrupted by a rain delay.

“That worried me,” Anderson said. “I did not know how the elbow would do with the starting and stopping. But it did just fine.”

Nevertheless, Anderson admitted the elbow has “needed lots of maintenance” for much of his career. There will be little rest for Anderson or his elbow as he takes on Australia’s Jordan Thompson in the Round of 16 on Tuesday.

“I’m ready,” Anderson said. “It will be a good test, playing on consecutive days. I wanted to get back into competition, so here we go.”