Even in tennis, good things come to those who wait.
At the age of 31, Kevin Anderson reached his first grand slam final at the US Open on Friday with a 4-6 7-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Spain’s Pablo Carrena Busta.
In this era when players are winning grand slam titles well into their 30s, Anderson almost doesn’t qualify as a late bloomer.
But the South African, the first born there to make a grand slam final since Kevin Curren at Wimbledon in 1985, has shown patience, resilience and unending dedication to make his grand slam breakthrough.
“It’s been a lot of hard work to get to this point,” Anderson, who will meet world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the final, said.
“It’s been a long road to get here and sometimes tough.
“We’ve been dominated by a select few individuals and there are definitely times where you think those will be the guys who will always be competing for it.”
Despite a series of injuries, from shoulder to knees and at the end of last year, to his hip, Anderson has bounced back brilliantly to put his name in the history books.
He will bid to go one better than Curren, who was runner-up at the 1984 Australian Open final before switching citizenship to the United States ahead of his run to the Wimbledon final.
Johan Kriek was the first South African to win a grand slam singles championship at the 1981 Australian Open but successfully defended the title in 1982 as a naturalised American.
“It’s definitely about perseverance,” Anderson said. “I feel like I’ve kept my head down and kept working hard.
“It’s been a terrific couple of weeks and I’ve got an opportunity to step on the court in a final and that’s something I’m going to be really excited about.”
It might have taken time, for a player whose previous best at a major was a quarter-final appearance, but it has been worth the wait.