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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 3, 2019

Kevin Anderson

Wimbledon, London, England

K. ANDERSON/J. Tipsarevic

6-4, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. First of all, how are you doing? It's definitely okay now, the elbow, I hope?
KEVIN ANDERSON: It's definitely getting better. I think it's a process. But having played four sets today and feeling really good and a match a few days ago, that's a very positive sign for me today.

I thought I served well throughout, not getting broken. I did a great job on my serve games. Of course I'm really pleased with how my body held up. That's the most important thing right now for me.

Obviously the more I can keep playing matches, the better it will be.

Q. How do you feel the pressure of defending the final? I'm sure they have already asked you this, but getting match by match, are you starting to see the road that last year brought you to the wonderful final?
KEVIN ANDERSON: To be honest with you, I'm not feeling any pressure from making finals last year. It's a new year. Last year is something completely different. I can take the positive experiences from last year, the experience, but everything else is completely different.

So many factors are different, not having played so much tennis this year, new opponents, different conditions, different challenges I'm going to have to face. It's a new opportunity. I'm really pleased to be through to the third round and hopefully will be able to keep it going.

Q. What's your take on the super-tiebreaker, 12-All? You have been definitely affected by the long sets last year. Do you feel more, knowing that anything can happen but you want to go past the 12-All in the fifth? Is it somehow better to go in the match knowing it will last a definite amount of time?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I think it's definitely a move in the right direction. I have said it a few times. They could have put the tiebreaker at 6-All. I think at that stage it's a good time to play a tiebreaker.

But I think it's still a move in the right direction, putting a definitive end to it at 12-12. I think they tried to balance the historical element of playing long sets with a definitive end. So I think it's a move in the right direction.

Not a ton of matches go that far, but it definitely protects the players and the schedule. I was happy to see that change.

Q. Did you talk about it maybe during the last year with John Isner about your match of last year? Say, Okay, John, it will never happen again? Did you happen to have a chat?
KEVIN ANDERSON: We haven't spoken specifically about it. Obviously we have made some references to it, but we both know what a tough and close match it was. It's a piece of history here at Wimbledon. Second-longest match, longest semifinal match. Probably won't change unless there is a really, really long baseline exchange and it gets to 12-12.

Yeah, as I was saying, I think it's definitely a move in the right direction.

Q. There have been lots of debate about Justin Gimelstob and whether or not he is to be allowed back into tennis. Would you welcome him back?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, it's obviously a very -- the whole circumstances has been very tough to deal with. Obviously Justin brought a lot of benefits to the players and fought very hard for the players.

He made, as he self-admittedly so, made a very big mistake in some of his actions about a year ago, and, you know, therefore he decided to step away and try and sort things out.

I think we will have to see how time plays out. I think we'll have to see what the situation is, if he does want to come back further down the road, but up until then, I prefer not to speculate. I'd rather look at the facts closer to the time and take it from there.

Q. When he was in court in the case he said no contest, and then obviously under American law no contest means you are admitting the guilt to some extent. If he is guilty, would it be justifiable for him to be allowed back into the sport?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely not an expert in the Californian penal code. I mean, I don't really understand, I mean, the specifics.

From what I have seen, the no contest is neither admission of guilt or innocence. So we have to really look at that and see what that means. And I don't know. Justin has said that he wants a chance to sort of explain that better and explain exactly what happened. That's another reason we'll definitely have to wait and see.

Q. One last thing about the tennis in South Africa. We have Lloyd. He's beginning to coming through quite strongly. I saw on the social media you train together, et cetera. Did he ask you something about Mr. Roger, how is it to play him on big stages like Wimbledon?
KEVIN ANDERSON: I think it's fantastic Lloyd coming through, another South African, into the top 100. I think he can take a lot of positives from his match with Roger yesterday, winning the first set and just being on Centre Court against somebody like that, it's so valuable.

So really hope he can use that experience and keep building. Looking really forward to competing with him at the World Team Cup next year in Australia. We have practiced a bit. We have spent some time together.

You know, it's a tough balance. Obviously I'm definitely available for him, you know, to pass on experiences but he's also figuring things out. It's been great to see. He's a great guy, and hopefully he will be able to keep improving.

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