Sport

Sport

Tennis: We’ve had our eye on you for some time now, Mr Anderson

Tennis: We’ve had our eye on you for some time now, Mr Anderson

Kevin Anderson’s duel with Novak Djokovic in Wimbledon was rather spectacular. It left ANTOINETTE MULLER wondering why a good few South Africans don’t consider Anderson as being one of their own.

Up until Monday night, South Africans who are not keen followers of sport probably didn’t know or care who Kevin Anderson was. Those who do follow sport were split into two camps: those who want to disown Anderson and those who will back him no matter what. This love-hate relationship is one that has been keenly observed over the last few years.

The balance of those camps might have shifted slightly after the way Anderson treated world number one Novak Djokovic in a titanic battle at Wimbledon that stretched across two days. Anderson won the first two sets, before Djokovic fought back and with daylight fading on Monday, the match was forced into a second day. Anderson continued to serve tennis balls like they were being fired from Cape Town’s noon gun, but in the end, Djokovic’s experience and a few basic faults by Anderson cost him. He fought valiantly, though. His name was suffixed with three letters: RSA.

For many South Africans, though, these letters apparently don’t mean much. In most sporting contexts, South Africans are quick to jump on the success of their fellow countrymen, but with Anderson it’s always been different. Here’s a man in the form of his life and, when this writer asked on Twitter whether South Africans would now be willing to welcome him back as one of their own, a fair few responded: nope.

It’s a peculiar situation, which becomes even more peculiar when the exact reasoning behind it is assessed. Ask those in the anti-Anderson camp and they are often fuelled by one rudimentary argument: Anderson does not play Davis Cup. Apparently his reluctance to take part in a competition that doesn’t suit his professional and income-earning schedule is a clear sign that he is not committed to South Africa. This despite the fact that tennis is, for all intents and purposes, an entirely selfish sport. Like with golf, although a player might be from a certain country, it is rare that they are pumped up by manufactured patriotism. Tennis players often have a short career and it is their prerogative to do as much as they can for themself.

Anderson has, on a number of occasions, said that playing in the Davis Cup is difficult because of his schedule. He has reiterated that he still considers himself to be South African. He is friends with fellow South African sportsmen and he has kept his South African citizenship alongside his American passport. Anderson would, probably, never have left to go study in America if Tennis South Africa had done more to support him. Despite not receiving support from the powers that be during his early days, Anderson has never been critical of the situation on home soil.

It is only recently that he stated publicly that he feels let down by Tennis South Africa, after it issued a release saying that Anderson had made himself available for selection for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Ireland. The truth behind the matter wasn’t quite so straightforward. Tennis South Africa had only told him that they had found a company who would be willing to pay him his participation fee, prompting Anderson to say that he would consider it. Without consulting him any further, the federation organised a conference call with local press and suddenly, all questions were about his participation in the competition.

Needless to say, this came as bit of a shock to Anderson. He wrote on his SuperSport.com blog: “The unfortunate reality is that the current scheduling and format of the Davis Cup would require me to make major sacrifices in the way of travel, training, rehabilitation and preparation for major tournaments, like Wimbledon. Ultimately, such a sacrifice would compromise my results and any hope of competitive representation for South Africa at Grand Slam tournaments.

I recognise that many South Africans associate a team competition against other nations as the ultimate way to show national pride. Although this is the case in rugby, cricket and soccer, I can assure you that, as a tennis player, my South African pride is most proudly on display when I achieve success on an international scene.”

This decision effectively rules him out of the possibility of taking part in the 2016 Rio Olympics, another move which does not sit too well with the patriotism drum-bangers who believe that sportsmen should drop everything to represent their country of birth, as if their life depends on it.

While players like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have all managed to play Davis Cup along with their other commitments, they have also made themselves unavailable on a number of occasions. Their higher rankings also means that they pocket significantly more than Anderson has, even when he is at the top of his game.

Anderson has also never received any funding from Tennis SA. He travels with a coach and a physio – all out of his own pocket – and attracting sponsors as a South African, representing South Africa, but living in the United States, is tricky. Risking injury and subsequently his income by playing in the Davis Cup, like what happened when he last played in 2011, is a real threat: there is zero support from Tennis SA should he be out of action for a time.

Anderson’s reasoning clearly doesn’t wash with many patriots, but hey, one man’s patriotism is another’s potential loss of earnings. DM

Photo: Kevin Anderson of South Africa in action against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their fourth round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2015. EPA/FACUNDO

Gallery

Please peer review 3 community comments before your comment can be posted

We would like our readers to start paying for Daily Maverick...

…but we are not going to force you to. Over 10 million users come to us each month for the news. We have not put it behind a paywall because the truth should not be a luxury.

Instead we ask our readers who can afford to contribute, even a small amount each month, to do so.

If you appreciate it and want to see us keep going then please consider contributing whatever you can.

Support Daily Maverick→
Payment options

Become a Maverick Insider

This could have been a paywall

On another site this would have been a paywall. Maverick Insider keeps our content free for all.

Become an Insider

Every seed of hope will one day sprout.

South African citizens throughout the country are standing up for our human rights. Stay informed, connected and inspired by our weekly FREE Maverick Citizen newsletter.