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ATP CUP

January 8, 2020

Kevin Anderson

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

K. ANDERSON/B. Paire

2-6, 7-6, 7-6

France - 1

South Africa - 1

(Transcribed from ATP audio recording.)

Q. Crazy match, Kevin. How did you kind of find a way to pull it off?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, obviously, it was a very close match and Benoit just was in a very good position, serving for it twice. And in that position you just try to take one point at a time and I got a little bit lucky. He gave me a few points which obviously I'm sure was tough on his side. But I made a couple good returns and once I did get that break back I felt I played a good, very good end of the second set and finished the third set strong as well. So, yeah, I think it was a bit of a roller coaster. I think both of us will feel that we could have done a few things better, but I'm very pleased to get the win in the end.

Q. Did you ever, not stop believing, but surely you had your doubts at some points along the road.
KEVIN ANDERSON: I feel I always do a pretty good job of trying to stay in the moment as much as possible. Even with him serving for the match I didn't -- I mean, you obviously realize most of the time in that position you're not going to come out ahead. But I always pride myself in fighting as much as I can right until the end and I was able to pull it off today. But, yeah, tennis is a tough game. I always say it's never over til it's over and you just try and do your best no matter what the score line is.

Q. That was your last match of the ATP Cup. What are your thoughts on it as you kind of reflect, look back on it? You're still in it, of course, but your last match.
KEVIN ANDERSON: It's a terrific event. I'm really happy to have been able to represent South Africa here. I've looked forward to the event for a couple years now. I think there was such good crowd engagement. Every match we played really had a lot of support. I really hope that -- a lot of support back home as well -- and just playing, just in this team environment with friends, we don't get to do this a whole lot, so I definitely had a fantastic week and hopefully I'll be able to still play this for years to come.

Q. And you had the award before. What did that mean to you to get that award and be honored for your work off the courts?
KEVIN ANDERSON: Yeah, I feel something I'm very passionate about. I think as my career has gone on I've been able to build a little bit of a platform and I think it's really important to use that to try to give back as much as possible. Obviously, you don't do it for any award. It's nice having recognition but more so just raising awareness. And it's not just me. I think if you look around there's a lot of tennis players who are really doing a great job giving back. Tennis has got a really unique culture where a lot of players help each other, especially with the charity events that we do often in the off-season. But it's something that my wife and I are very passionate about and we're definitely very excited and motivated to try to keep growing some of the things we do off the court.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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