Anderson redefines breakthrough season at age 32

Kevin Anderson can enjoy his off-season more than ever after capping off a breakthrough season after 11 years on tour. While 2017 was big for the 32-year-old as he reached his first Slam final, these past 12 months have been even memorable.

The South African began 2018 with a final appearance in at the ATP 250 in Pune, before winning the inaugural New York Open. Enjoying a winning stretch, he reached the Rio final just after winning New York.

At the ATP Masters 1000s in Miami and Indian Wells, Anderson showed some consistency by reaching the quarterfinals of both events.

The clay season went quickly for the world No. 6, but then on grass, Anderson's huge serving game saw him make a run to the final with a stunning defeat of Roger Federer and an unforgettable marathon win over John Isner.

Anderson bounced back from a defeat to Novak Djokovic in the final to make the semifinals in Toronto, and a few months later, won his fifth career title in Vienna over Kei Nishikori.

His best career season saw him get to a high of No. 5 before finishing a busy year at the ATP Finals with a ranking of No. 6. In London, he made his debut with wins over Nishikori and Dominic Thiem before losing to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals.

Some rest and recovery time, followed by offseason training is on the schedule for Anderson.

"I start the year in Abu Dhabi, Pune, Australian Open after that," Anderson said in London. "Obviously finding the balance between spending time at home, recovering, then starting the year again training."

He's also going to host a charity event in December to benefit animals and ocean life in south Florida.

"It's for the local dog rescue, an initiative called Ocean Conservancy, Trash Free Seas. Excited about that," Anderson said.

He's got big goals to look forward to in the coming year, both on and off the court.

"Top 5 was a big goal of mine for a long time. Hopefully next year this time I'll finish Top 3," Anderson said. "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 Masters and Slams. Hopefully I'll have a couple of titles, Masters, being in finals there, putting myself in finals of Slams, hopefully winning one. That's the ultimate goal."