If you didn’t know who Kevin Anderson was you really should after his showing at Wimbledon. The then world number 14 managed to take eventual winner Novak Djokovic all the way to five sets, his booming serve and aggressive returns only just failing to pull off a major upset.

Tennis fans will know that the local lad has been in a spot of hot water with Tennis South Africa, his decision to refuse the chance to represent the national team in the Davis Cup proving unpopular with the powers that be.

Anderson recently elaborated on why he prefers to avoid training in South Africa with this quote below from EWN:

We do so much travel throughout the year, and I’m from Johannesburg, where we’ve also got the altitude. We don’t play any tournaments at that altitude. It really affects my style of tennis and it’s much more difficult to train in that kind of environment. It’s one of those things that poses quite a few challenges.

Following Anderson’s refusal to take part in future Davis Cups, rumours have also been circulating regarding whether or not he might switch allegiance to the USA. Anderson will gain American citizenship later this year and, given his current world ranking and the lack of many top-notch U.S. players, would walk into their team if he so desired.

The former president of the United States Tennis Association (USTA), Dave Haggerty, has said that the U.S. has not yet approached Kevin on the matter:

I don’t think there have been any conversations between the federation and Kevin, about or Kevin approaching us. I know that there’s a situation going on with South Africa and I think that will be dealt with best by Kevin himself.

He might be based in the U.S. but here’s hoping Anderson will always call SA home. It would be a real pity if the first decent male tennis player to come from our shores since Wayne Ferreira was to defect to our friends across the pond.

If we ever hear you calling it ‘aluminum’ or saying ‘math’ instead of ‘maths’ we will need to have stern words Mr. Anderson.

[source:ewn]