Longevity a potential positive for Anderson amidst COVID-19 shut-out

The 33 year-old could only manage five events on tour in 2019 before an initial surgery to a troublesome right knee side-lined him in September. He was on his way back to competitive tennis when he was struck down again at the beginning of the year and required surgery again to the same knee.

The international tennis schedule is a gruelling one with many players playing back-to-back tournaments constantly which puts huge strain on the body as well as mentally. Given the forced shutdown of the tour, it could be a blessing in disguise for Anderson physically.

“I’m not looking at it in a bad way but I do only have ‘x’ amount of Wimbledon’s left in me so I have seen this period as a chance to rest my body and hopefully I will be able to play an extra year of tennis because of it.

“I hope that not being able to play this year might give me a chance to make that up towards the end of my career,” the two-time grand slam finalist added.

He had plans to return for the clay court season that would have culminated in the French Open at Rolland Garros before moving onto the grass court season and another shot at Wimbledon – two years on from his finals appearance at the All England Club.

Despite the set-backs that he has experienced over the past eight months, Anderson is using this enforced break to recover fully and spend quality time with his family.

“We are lucky in Florida that we have quite a lot of space and it’s been great to spend more time with my wife, my daughter and our dog,” Anderson said.

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“It’s been great that we have been able to go out on walks in our neighbourhood but I am definitely itching to get back out on the court and play some competitive tennis.”

Talking about a return to play for the whole tour, Anderson is as much in the dark as everyone else and is finding it tricky dealing with preparation when there is no official return date.

“This is obviously unprecedented and we have no idea when the season will start again so it is quite challenging.

“We could be playing in the summer but there is a realistic chance that it will be much later or even next year and everyone is on the same page in that we only want to return when it is safe to do so.

“I do think that with the way things are going we could have an eight week notice period before any tournaments are confirmed but right now it’s just enjoying the family time and working out at home when I can.

“When we get given the green light I’ll probably go into an off-season training period before getting back into action,” Anderson commented.