Kevin Anderson, 37, tells how Roger Federer impacted his decision to return to tennis

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Two-time Grand Slam finalist Kevin Anderson reveals Roger Federer played a certain role in his decision to make a comeback to tennis. Anderson, 37, announced this month he was returning to pro tennis 14 months after retiring. Earlier this year, Anderson was in Delray Beach and he went to a local tennis club for a hit. Federer, who is represented by Tony Godsick, was in town to meet his agent. Toward the end of Anderson's hit, Federer showed up at the club. Anderson and Federer, who played a thriller at 2018 Wimbledon, started talking. Anderson admitted to feeling a bit intimidated at first - something that was also happening to him in the past when he was meeting the top players. But then, Anderson told himself he needed to relax and use that chance in the best possible way. 

Anderson on meeting Federer

"And it was really interesting, because, in the first few minutes of our conversation, I felt that same sort of uneasiness, I felt very shifty. I kind of made a concerted effort to change that and things like that. You don't really know what's going to come your way, and that has really been a big learning experience for me. Had I been able to do [my career] over, I probably would have not spent maybe as many hours on myself in the practice court, but interacting or putting myself in situations. I ended up having a great conversation with Roger and for the first time, I felt just really at ease and [was] having a normal conversation. It was fascinating listening to him, arguably the best player of all time in terms of his ball striking, and just hearing the insights he had, it was a really cool experience. I didn't really put that together [in terms of coming back]. I think before that I was kind of thinking of, ‘Maybe I should come back,'" Anderson told the ATP website.

Anderson is returning to tennis this week in Newport. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/WDRsAH6

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