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Kevin Anderson is the King of New York (Open), Wins Fourth Career ATP World Tour Crown

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Kevin Anderson is the King of New York (Open), Wins Fourth Career ATP World Tour Crown

(February 18, 2018) UNIONDALE, NY – Kevin Anderson is the King of the New York Open. The top seeded South African won his third, third-set tie-break this week at the inaugural New York to win his first title since 2015 Winston-Salem beating second seed Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(1) on Sunday in Uniondale, New York at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“Obviously, you go out there – the quicker and easier you can win, the better,” Anderson said commenting about his long matches this week. “But, I think I can take a lot of confidence in the way I was able to come through those close matches. I was tested, every single match went to three sets, three of the four matches went to 7-6 in the third and I played some of my best tennis when it mattered. I think if you can come through those matches, you can really take a lot of confidence. My body responded well, that is always a big positive.”

“I was able to keep on resetting and it was definitely a good testament to my attitude and my mindset which I work very hard on.”

“The way he plays, it doesn’t let you play that much because he goes for so much, so you don’t really get that comfortable out there,” Querrey said. “But it could have gone either way.”

The victory puts the 2017 US Open finalist back in the Top Ten at a career-high No. 9 on Monday.

“I was there (Top Ten) at the end of 2015, in October, I was just there for a week and I’ve cemented my place in there a little bit longer,” Anderson said to media. To be honest with you I have set my sights for a little bit higher as well, you know, finishing the year, making London is one of my biggest goals that I have. Anytime that you reach career milestones, it feels great, so I definitely can enjoy that for now before I have to reset and step onto a court again, but winning a tournament and [getting] a career-high ranking at the same time, that definitely feels good.”

Anderson broke a streak of three straight finals lost.

“It feels really, really special to me to get today’s win as I was saying on the court, tennis is a tough sport and you know, you can play a lot of good tennis, win a lot of matches, and if you don’t win that finals match, it’s a pretty tough week.”

“I have been runner-up quite a few times in my career. One of my big goals that I had for this year was to try to be a bit more successful, and that final stage, I fell a little short earlier in this year in India, and it feels great to come through and get today’s win.”

“It gives me a lot of confidence for the year. I feel like I’m playing some really good tennis and I’m looking forward to what the season brings. I feel like I’ve got good goals. As I’ve been saying, it all starts with the process of what I’m doing day in and day out. I felt I did a terrific job of that this week and hopefully I’ll be able to continue with things.”

Anderson has now leveled his head-to-head record against Querrey at 8-8.

As for the inaugural New York Open, the champion will be back next year: “I’ve said it all week, it’s really exciting to be here. It’s obviously a huge tennis market, obviously, you have New York, but to bring the ATP World Tour back to New York, I think that’s very special.”

“Often, when it’s your first week and the first time you put on an event, it can be quite challenging. I must say, not just saying it for the sake of it, but I feel like things went very smoothly. I think from a players’ standpoint, it didn’t feel like a first event at all.”

“I think everyone who was behind the scenes did a terrific job, and I’ve had two good outings in New York the last two times I’ve been here, so I’m definitely all for a tournament being back here and I definitely look forward to coming back next year.”

Querrey agreed: “It was great. I mean, I’ve played a handful of tournaments where it’s their inaugural year, and this tournament probably did the best job. Everything ran smoothly, as it appeared from the players’ standpoint. It was really convenient with the hotel next door, the locker rooms were great, the crowds were great. The venue is really neat and really cool. I think every guy really liked it this week.”

 

Listen to Kevin Anderson’s news conference:


In the doubles final, Max Mirnyi, appearing in his 100th ATP World Tour final, won his second tournament with new partner Philipp Oswald, beating Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak 4-6, 6-4, 10-6.

“A couple tough matches,” said Mirnyi. “I felt like the match yesterday we kind of got lucky towards the end. They were a better team than us. Today was maybe 50-50 and there was definitely some magic for us in New York. I’m thrilled about that.”
“For me it’s like being in university,” Oswald commented about playing with his partner from Belarus. “He’s my teacher… I think this tournament is really important for us for the next weeks with the big tournaments coming up.”

Listen to Mirnyi and Oswald’s post-match news conference:

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