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Cape Town - This was revealed on Tuesday by South African Davis Cup captain John-Laffnie de Jager, with a conciliatory request to "let bygones be bygones."
De Jager had at one stage declared he would not include the two-metre tall, big-serving Anderson in the Davis Cup squad this year following his shock decision not to play against India. However, the South African captain said "some differences and misunderstandings had been sorted out" and there was every chance of Anderson returning to the squad.
"Kevin's momentum, which earned him a win over current world number two, Novak Djokovic, two years ago, is also on the up," said De Jager, "and his world ranking has improved to 127th after a temporary slump."
And the encouraging Davis Cup boost comes in the wake of the news that South Africa will now have a home tie against Finland in the next round of the Euro-Africa Group One segment of the tournament in May after the Scandinavian side had gained a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Poland in Poland over the week-end. If Poland had won, as was generally expected, South Africa would have had an awkward trip to Europe to face Poland in the next round of the competition.
"Obviously this is a great boost to stage another Davis Cup tie in South Africa," said Sata CEO Ian Smith, "but we should not get carried away."
"Finland proved their mettle playing on foreign soil against Poland, with old stalwart Jarrko Nieminen performing heroic feats in Warsaw and showing he has fully recovered from the injuries that have plagued him over the past 18 months."
The 85th-ranked Nieminen performed in the best tradition of Davis Cup heroics when he first beat Michal Przysiezny in a see-sawing match that lasted almost five hours - and then with Poland trailing 2-1 after the doubles, the Finnish number one went on to beat the 42nd world-ranked Lukasz Kubot, who recently reached the last 16 of the Australian Open, in a thrilling match of high-class tennis.
Finland also showed they were not a one-man band, so to speak, when up-and-coming Henri Kontinen overcame Przysiezny under extreme pressure in another thriller that lasted well over four hours to clinch the tie.
Finnish media have hailed the success as one of the most notable moments in the country's tennis history and this will be sufficient to leave De Jager wary of the outcome - but there can be no doubting the advantages that usually accrue to teams playing at home in Davis Cup competition.
South Africa have produced impressive victories in Davis Cup ties at Emperors Palace on the outskirts of OR Tambo Airport in recent times before going down to India in last year's crucial World Group play-off at the Ellis Park Indoor Arena - but no decision has yet been taken on the venue for the Finland tie.
