‘Inside I’m dying’ – Kelsey Anderson on life on the sidelines

Those costs can begin to mount up pretty quickly – Anderson estimates that they spent between $40,000 (£26,000) and $50,000 (£33,000) on air fares last year, and approximately $1,000 (£700) to $2,000 (£1,400) a week on hotel rooms.

“If you’ve got a team with you, you’ve really got to be earning money to cover your expenses,” says Anderson.

She deals with the business side of Kevin’s career and so is responsible for booking those plane tickets, with the air miles and deals proving invaluable to make sure his 6ft 8in frame arrives ready for competition.

That can often mean Kevin heading to business class while his wife sits at the less glamorous end of the plane – at least on the way to tournaments.

“It’s just not worth the risk of him showing up having pinched his neck because he’s sleeping funny on the airplane,” she says.

“My job, and the job of the rest of the support staff, is to take as much pressure off Kevin as we can, so that all he has to do theoretically is show up and play.”

Her husband won £898,765 in prize money last year, but only reached his career-high ranking this summer at the age of 29, having turned professional in 2007.

“Of course the guys at the top have great endorsements but Kevin’s from South Africa; he doesn’t have a federation funding him,” she adds.

“He’s paid his own way every dime of his career, he’s built it on his own merits, and it makes me really proud of him. He’s managed it all really smartly. He’s treated it as a business from day one as a pro.”