Cape Town – South African tennis star Kevin Anderson will start his grass court campaign at London’s Queen’s Club Championships on Tuesday.
Anderson is seeded third for the event, with Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov (2nd) and Croatia’s Marin Cilic (1st) the top seeds.
Several of the world’s best players will feature this year at Queen’s, including multiple Grand Slam winners Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka.
Anderson will face unseeded Argentine Leonardo Mayer is his first-round match on Tuesday.
The South African holds a 4-1 head-to-head ATP win-record over Mayer and won their only encounter on grass – in straights sets at Wimbledon in 2015.
Anderson will head into the grass season with confidence, having reached the last 16 at the French Open earlier this month.
He had a great chance of making the quarter-finals for the first time at Roland Garros but surrendered a two-set advantage to Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.
Following his clay campaign, Anderson headed back to America where he prepared for the grass season at the home of legendary golfer Jack Nicklaus.
Nicklaus is known to be an avid tennis fan and has a grass court at his home in Jupiter, Florida. The 18-time major winner often allows top tennis players to practice at the facility.
Great hitting on some of the best grass courts in the world. Thanks as always to @jacknicklaus for the hospitality on his courts! Next stop: London. ???? pic.twitter.com/LnvR0x5Fx7
— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) June 12, 2018
Anderson, the current world No 8, will be looking to make an impression at Queen’s – the traditional warm-up tournament for Wimbledon.
The 32-year-old equalled his best Wimbledon performance last year when he made the last 16, before losing a five-set thriller to America’s Sam Querrey.
Happy to be back at @QueensTennis! ???? pic.twitter.com/CnzzdFumJm
— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) June 18, 2018