Anderson doesn’t need to be ‘gutted’

All good things come to an end. Unfortunately for South African tennis player Kevin Anderson his end came after he lost to topranked Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the US Open final in New York in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Nadal didn’t give his opponent a chance, defeating the 31-year-old South African 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to record his 16th Grand Slam title.

It was Anderson’s first Grand Slam final, surpassing his previous best finish of reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open two years ago.

He was the first South African to appear in a US final since Cliff Drysdale in 1965, and in any Grand Slam since Kevin Curren at the 1984 Australian Open.

Anderson admitted afterwards that he was gutted, yet pleased after his fairy-tale run at Flushing Meadows. He has every reason to feel pleased.

His march to the final saw him climb a whopping 17 places to number 15 in the world – just five places from his career-best in 2015. His runner-up finish also earned him R23.6 million in prize money.

Not bad for two weeks of work. Although the final was one-sided, Anderson can hold his head up high. He lost to an experienced player at the top of his game.

Kevin, we are proud of you.