Show caption Kevin Anderson during his quarter-final win against Roger Federer at Wimbledon last year. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images Tennis Kevin Anderson: ‘One tennis player coming out might open the gates for others’ The world No 8 on his fierce campaigning streak, how he was shaped by apartheid – and tennis’s long road to equality Jacob Steinberg @JacobSteinberg Sun 16 Jun 2019 11.32 BST Share on Facebook

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“I try not to get too political,” Kevin Anderson says as he winds down at the end of a rainy day at the National Tennis Centre. “But coming from South Africa, where apartheid was a huge problem and there was lots of inequality, has shaped me in terms of how I view certain issues. You need people to speak up.”

Anderson, who will continue his comeback at Queen’s Club this week after missing the French Open with an elbow injury, comes alive when discussing matters away from the court. The world No 8 loves what he does for a living but it does not define him. Although Anderson has fond memories of his run at Wimbledon last year when he reached the final after beating Roger Federer from two sets down in the last eight and taking six hours and 36 minutes to overcome John Isner in the second-longest match in grand slam history, he knows there is a world outside tennis.

The sport has given Anderson, who faces Britain’s Cameron Norrie in the first round of the Fever-Tree Championships, a platform to air his views and he has backed some important causes as the vice-chair of the ATP players’ council. The 33-year-old has channelled his environmentalism by tackling the use of plastics on the Tour and reveals ambitions to ensure lower‑ranked players have affordable access to sports psychologists, while he describes himself as a feminist and has become an ally of the LGBTQ community.

It speaks to a campaigning streak in the 6ft 8in power server. “My wife, Kelsey, and I did our first charity event for two causes last year and we’ll be doing it again,” Anderson says. “The first was for a local animal shelter in Delray Beach in Florida where we live and where we adopted our dog, Lady Kady, from.

“Then we worked with Ocean Conservancy, a company working on sustainability. We focused on a programme called Trash Free Seas. It’s focused on rooting out plastics from our oceans.”

In January the journalist Nick McCarvel invited Anderson to speak at an LGBTQ talk at the Australian Open. It bothers Anderson there is no openly gay male player on the Tour. “There is definitely a stigma attached to it,” he says. “Society historically has not been very welcoming. Times are changing because people are talking, which is great, but it will take somebody to break that trend. It won’t be easy. It will take a lot of courage. But hopefully if we can be more welcoming it might make it a little bit easier.

“One person doing it might open the gates for others. In the US with team sports there have been a couple of players who have come out. Jason Collins, who was the first NBA player to come out, said one of his biggest challenges was worrying about his teammates. But once he did it and his teammates were supportive of him, it helped others.

“Tennis is individual so the dynamics are different. My hope is players collectively create an environment where someone feels comfortable. It’s about having good awareness. Jason spoke about this a lot. It’s small things, like saying: ‘That’s so gay.’

Anderson congratulates Rafael Nadal at the end of the 2017 US Open final. Photograph: Andrew Kelly/Reuters

“Somebody who is gay could find it very offensive but not feel comfortable about speaking out. The NBA actually has a system where people are fined for saying that. It can be very offensive and steps like that can be implemented in tennis. It’s part of being respectful and understanding how simple comments like that can be received by others.”

These have been challenging times for the players’ council, which is led by Novak Djokovic. The ousting of Chris Kermode as head of the association following a feud with Djokovic left a sour taste, while Justin Gimelstob, an increasingly influential figure in the corridors of power, stepped down from the ATP board in May following his conviction for assault.

The Gimelstob affair caused Stan Wawrinka to decry “a worrying decline in moral standards” in the men’s game. “The council can get very political at times,” Anderson says. “I try to stay as neutral as possible.”

Anderson, a relatively late bloomer, has flourished in recent years, losing to Rafael Nadal in the US Open final in 2017 and Djokovic in the final at SW19 last year. He has made his millions. Yet not everyone is so fortunate. Last week the Canadian player Vasek Pospisil took to Twitter to explain the financial challenges faced by lower-ranked players.

Anderson empathises with Pospisil. “There’s a long way to go but we have made huge improvements over the last five or six years,” he says. “The pension is drastically increased. Prize money is increased.

“Changing public perceptions is important. Nobody bats an eyelid in a team sport when a player gets injured and is still getting paid. In tennis there is nothing like that.”

As for his immediate ambitions, Anderson hopes to fulfil his dream of becoming a slam champion. Yet this is the toughest era in the sport’s history. “I’ve made two finals and I’m up against guys who have won over 30 grand slams between them,” he says. “But it’s been great for the sport. You have to figure it out. Wishing for something else is futile.”