South Africa’s Kevin Anderson is back at No 5 on the ATP World Tour rankings, and is now ranked higher than the great Roger Federer.

Anderson was knocked out after a second-round defeat to Frances Tiafoe at the Australian Open, but because he bettered his performance from 2018, he gained enough points to overtake Federer, who dropped three spots.

Federer was the defending champion, and a fourth-round loss has ended up costing him dearly.

This is only the second time in Anderson’s career that he has reached the world’s top five. The first time was in July 2018, when he reached the final at Wimbledon.

Anderson took to Twitter to share his excitement:

Back at a career-high No.5 💪 The first month of 2019 is coming to a close and I’m excited for what the rest of the year will hold 🤗 pic.twitter.com/ONdi5z3eKi

— Kevin Anderson (@KAndersonATP) January 28, 2019

Anderson started the year by winning the Maharashtra Open in India. His next scheduled event is the New York Open, where he will look to defend the title he won a year ago.

Photo: Getty