In 2010, given my first opportunity to travel overseas for work, I covered a Davis Cup tie between South Africa and Germany. It was a great success for the SA team, which aimed to qualify for the top flight World Group for the first time in 12 years. The draw in Stuttgart was fantastic. I ate a horrible black sausage, drank a spectacular beer and met some of the players, along with captain John-Laffnie de Jager. While I enjoyed myself in the brand new environment, however, the prospects for the national team on the pitch were a little bleaker. The players clearly enjoyed themselves …
In 2010, given my first opportunity to travel overseas for work, I covered a Davis Cup tie between South Africa and Germany.
It was a great success for the SA team, which aimed to qualify for the top flight World Group for the first time in 12 years.
The draw in Stuttgart was fantastic. I ate a horrible black sausage, drank a spectacular beer and met some of the players, along with captain John-Laffnie de Jager.
While I enjoyed myself in the brand new environment, however, the prospects for the national team on the pitch were a little bleaker.
The players clearly enjoyed being in a team environment, but there was a gap in the squad and they had to admit it couldn’t be filled.
Although Kevin Anderson would later be criticized for making himself unavailable for the SA squad, he had planned to compete in Stuttgart, only to be sidelined with a toe injury.
It was a devastating blow. At the time, Anderson was ranked just in the top 80 in the world and the team had some depth with the likes of fighter Rik de Voest and doubles specialist Wesley Moodie in their ranks.
But without Anderson, they never really had a chance and were ultimately duped by their German hosts.
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Even then – before he became a top 10 player and a Grand Slam finalist – Anderson was the best player in the country and brought a whole new dynamic to the national team.
But that was the last time he made himself available to the SA team and would be widely criticized for his absence from future ties.
However, there has never been anyone on the squad, and even though I managed to convince De Jager and the rest of the team to open up to me during my time in Germany, I have never heard any of them criticize Anderson, even though he hadn’t played for the team in the past two years.
The reality is that each of those players knew how difficult it was to achieve what Anderson hoped to achieve on the ATP Tour, and while they may not have been happy with it, it would be disrespectful to lash out at the only single player who was able to represent the Country at the highest levels of international tennis.
On the few occasions I got to interview him, Anderson always made it clear that he loved his home country and was proud to represent us on the tour.
He could have changed allegiance to the United States, as he held dual citizenship, but he didn’t. He stayed with us and took SA men’s tennis to levels it hadn’t reached in decades.
For this, we should be satisfied with his efforts and proud of what he has achieved.
As I learned in Stuttgart, speaking to people who desperately wanted him on their team, he was always respected by his peers, and rightfully so.
Anderson left our national team, he will admit it too, but he never left our country.