It wasn’t to be for Kevin Anderson on Saturday at the Nitto ATP Finals, but the South African is already looking to achieve new goals in 2019 after a career-best season.
The Nitto ATP Finals capped a terrific year for the 32-year-old, which included a run to his second Grand Slam final at Wimbledon (l. to Djokovic) and also two ATP World Tour titles — the New York Open (d. Querrey) in February and his first 500-level crown last month at the Erste Bank Open 500 (d. Nishikori). Having spent one week among the Top 10 in October 2015, Anderson returned to the elite on 19 February this year.
“I'm definitely looking at putting myself in the mix [in 2019],” said Anderson, who rose to a career-high No. 5 in the ATP Rankings on 16 July. “Being in the Top 5 was a big goal of mine for a long time. Hopefully next year, at this time, I'll finish Top 3. I think that will be a great goal for me. In order to do that, you're going to have to have very good results at the [ATP World Tour] Masters 1000s and Grand Slams. Hopefully, I'll have a couple of titles, be in Masters 1000 finals [and] put myself in finals of Slams, and hopefully win one. That's the ultimate goal.
Anderson finishes his 2018 campaign with a 48-19 match record on the season, which also included runs to two Masters 1000 semi-finals at the Mutua Madrid Open (l. to Thiem) and the Rogers Cup in Toronto (l. to Tsitsipas).