Anderson set to face Djokovic again

With the 2018 Rolex Shanghai Masters tennis tournament having kicked off yesterday, South African tennis fans will be keeping a close eye on Kevin Anderson.

The South African has a bye in the first round thanks to being seeded seventh for the tournament. In the second round tomorrow he is set to face the winner of the match between Mikhail Kukushkin and Albert Ramos.

Should he make it to the quarterfinals, he will face Novak Djokovic for a rematch of the Wimbledon final.

In an official interview, Anderson spoke about working too hard, motivating himself and his frustrations. Here is the full interview. Q. How hard are these last two months of the season after all of the traveling and after all of the matches you have already played? KEVIN ANDERSON: I mean, you definitely see a few challenges, I think. Obviously it’s been a lot of tennis and a lot of travel up until this point, as you said.

But, you know, I think that’s where it’s important where you sort of enjoy not just the tennis but other areas, too. I mean, last week in Tokyo, it’s a city that I really enjoy.

Here, coming to Shanghai, there is a lot of, you know, nice activities in the city and around the site. So that’s always good just to take away from tennis a little bit.

But for me especially, obviously London is a big goal of mine, so I’m still really motivated and I’m working hard to hopefully make it there.

You know, there is no doubt that there is some I think fatigue and a bit of, you know, a little tired from the rest of the season, so I think that’s why it’s even more important to be very mentally dedicated, and if you feel any frustrations, not really letting those build up, making sure that you sort of squash them as they come.

I think that’s definitely been key. Honestly in the last few years, some lessons I have learned, hopefully I will be able to apply them this year.

Q. What kind of lessons have there been? Do you prepare any differently at the end of the season for a match? KEVIN ANDERSON: I mean, for me personally, I feel like towards the end of the year I wanted to do really well, and I think I just put a little bit too much pressure on myself.

Maybe just the fact that you are naturally a bit more fatigued, you maybe generally are more likely to experience those frustrations much quicker.

So that’s why, again, it’s just really important from a mental standpoint to be very dedicated. I think in the past few years I haven’t lacked motivation. If anything, I have sort of worked too hard, I think, for this time of the year.

I think it’s really important to find a good balance between being intense on the court but making sure off the court you’re keeping things pretty relaxed.

Q. What did Laver Cup do for your motivation? I mean, it looked like it was a great thing for everybody. KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, not sure from a motivation standpoint, just from the experience. It was a fantastic event. I thought it was great for tennis.

Me personally, playing in Chicago, I’ve spent a lot of time there, went to university in the state. Just really exciting tennis throughout.

And to see that sort of crowd support, sold-out stadiums and United Center, which is a lot history with some pretty big sporting teams there, franchises in the city, was great.

It was also quite different. You’re in a team atmosphere, so it was a good time for me to spend with some of the other players.