Elbow injury sidelines Kevin Anderson from the entire clay season
World no. 6 Kevin Anderson was one of the most successful players on the Tour in 2018 at the age of 32, winning the career-best 47 matches and two ATP titles, the first over the ATP 250 category when he went all the way in Vienna. In one of the most thrilling encounters of the entire season and longest matches ever, the South African toppled John Isner in the semi-final of Wimbledon to reach his second Grand Slam final, losing to Novak Djokovic in straight sets but earning enough points to qualify for the ATP Finals for the first time. In London, Kevin ousted Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori to secure the place in the semi-final, closing the year on a high note and preparing for more of the same in 2019.
The start of the new year was very promising, edging Ivo Karlovic in the tallest ATP final in the Open era in Pune before another disappointing result in Melbourne, bowing out in the second round when Frances Tiafoe ousted him in four sets. Struggling with an elbow injury, Anderson was forced to miss the title defense in New York and also to withdraw from Acapulco and Indian Wells, still feeling uncomfortable on the court while serving. The South African returned in Miami and played well considering the long break, overpowering Jaume Munar, Joao Sousa and Jordan Thompson before Roger Federer swept him off from the court in the quarters 6-0, 6-4 in an hour and 25 minutes.
As was expected, Kevin decided to delay the beginning of the clay season, skipping Monte Carlo where he scored just one win between 2011-14 and where he hasn't played for five years. Anderson was supposed to make a return in Estoril where he was the semi-finalist in 2017 (Stefanos Tsitsipas took him down in the second round a year ago) but he shared some bad news with his fans on Tuesday, deciding to skip the entire clay-court season to rest that elbow and get back to 100% for the grass swing.
"Hi everyone. I wanted to let you all know that I will unfortunately be missing the clay season this year. After discussing with my doctors and team, we thought the best decision is to rest and rehab my elbow injury for a few more weeks. I will keep working hard each day to get healthy again in time for grass. I’m very disappointed to be missing Estoril, Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros - all incredible events that have been so great to me and I love going back to - but I know this is the right decision for the long term in my career. I will also miss seeing the fans there, but I appreciate all of your support and look forward to seeing you again soon."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2W8dwDM
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