It is a well known fact that South African cricket Captan AB de Villiers is a man of many talents. Within the sporting realm, he has represented South Africa at the junior level in tennis, squash and golf. However, the biggest validation of his non-cricketing skills has come from ATP world number 12, Kevin Anderson, who stated that he lost to AB, during his youth tennis days.
He said, “AB was well known tennis player in the junior circuit. I was two years junior to him, and we used to play against each other all the time. I remember this one time when he defeated me in straight sets, but I gave him tough competition. Over time, he concentrated more on cricket, and I streamlined my resources towards cricket. But, we go back. We are still in touch actually we talk to each other whenever we get time.”
He added, “AB’s best part was his court coverage, he had an amazing backhand as well.”
Currently in Chennai, Anderson recently pulled out off the Aircel Chennai Open, he also openly admitted to his love for cricket. He said, “I am a huge cricket fan, one of my biggest disappointments when I left for training to Florida, was not being able to watch cricket. There was no coverage and it used to irk me a lot. Once the internet came about I tried to live stream the matches.”
Going in-depth into his interest for cricket, Anderson spoke about the India series. He said, “ I saw the India South Africa series but we didn’t fare very well. Infact, I am also following the current England series.”
Speaking about his knee injury, he said, “Due to my height, my knee has always created an issue for me. There were tournaments where I would play with an aggravated knee. However, the pain has been excruciating over the last year or so. My decision is based keeping in mind the upcoming Australian Open. I don’t want to affect my chances for the slam.”
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