A recent story headlined 'Anderson is no patriot' reminded me of the late 1980s when Steffi Graf and Boris Becker reigned supreme in world tennis after a steady stream of Major conquests.
The German duo were all-conquering on the international stage and they created a frenzy as tennis mania swept through the country.
At the time newspaper reports said many German football fans were tearing up their scrapbooks to pursue their new-found interest in tennis instead.
South Africa's Kevin Anderson has just emerged from back-to-back final appearances at successive Majors and his heroic feats enjoyed generous coverage both inside and outside South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was the primary praise singer here in South Africa and his call to Anderson on the eve of the Wimbledon final enjoyed saturation coverage.
As a result, the poster boy Anderson's exploits gave SA tennis its biggest boost in many years. It will inspire many players in the country, especially those that dare to dream big.
They will now believe it's possible that South Africans can beat the best in the world, more so after Anderson felled the No 1 seed at Wimbledon.
In the aftermath of Anderson's glowing performances on tennis' biggest stage comes a media report that says he is unpatriotic because of his failure to play for South Africa's Davis Cup team.
In the tennis fraternity, Anderson's absence from the Davis Cup team for a variety of reasons are fully understood. Only those with an understanding of what actually happens at the highest level of the game will appreciate Anderson's absence.
It's something that national tennis understands and they'll not be joining in the 'unpatriotic' chorus, nor will they pressurize Anderson to play.
Just a glance at the overall picture shows that over the past decade or so Anderson battled numerous injuries and two years ago he was sidelined for close to a year.
Davis Cup matches often take place in the slipstream of Majors and the world's leading players who reach the later rounds are often forced to give it a miss. Earlier this year, for example, the Davis Cup matches were played a week after the Australian Open.
Federer has just pulled out of the Rogers Cup event in Canada, saying: "With scheduling being the key to my longevity moving forward, I have regrettably decided to withdraw from Toronto this year."
South Africa's Davis Cup team management structure does not provide for adequate support on a number of fronts, mainly as a result of financial constraints.
It makes sense for Anderson to be based in the USA. There is a huge advantage for him to be based there instead of flying out to tournaments worldwide from distant South Africa.
And as for US citizenship, an American passport is infinitely more useful when travelling the world.
Then there is also the matter of the national tennis federation focusing on developing tennis at grassroots level rather than spending limited resources on Davis Cup players.
In the past few years, the odd sponsor has come forward to finance the Davis Cup team. On occasions, TSA had to consider surrendering home matches because they couldn't cough up the finance that comes with hosting the Davis Cup.
And there is also the matter of the national federation not having its house in order. There have been some shocking instances of maladministration in the past.
I'm thinking of a TSA president who a few years ago insisted on using a sponsorship to buy a car as well as install an alarm system at his home.
The present Tennis South Africa (TSA) hierarchy has admitted that support for players, as would have been in place when Germany produced Graf and Becker, has not always been in place.
Tennis South Africa's primary focus nowadays is transformation and trying to address the imbalances of the past. By the looks of things, it will be that way for years to come.
In the meantime, the likes of our world-class doubles star Raven Klaasen who did South Africa proud at Wimbledon will have to hotfoot on his own as he makes his way up the world rankings. And he has been doing this for some time now.
There are some outstanding South Africans around the world who are leading figures in world tennis. Among them is the Durban-born Craig Tiley, the CEO of Tennis Australia who runs the Australian Open to great acclaim.
All over the USA, there are many South Africans involved in the running of tennis, both as coaches and tennis promoters. A few decades ago several South Africans played pioneering roles in the formation of the two controlling bodies of world tennis (ATP and WTA).
Unfortunately, there is no room for the likes of Tiley here because, in transformation parlance, South Africa is busy levelling the playing fields. Tiley won't have the resources to run a SA Open, never mind a Major.
As would have been the case with Anderson when he was coming through the ranks, TSA's primary efforts will not be targeting the next generation of rookie professionals.
There are presently four players languishing between 200 and 900 on the world rankings. They are wonderfully talented but none of them will enjoy the push that propelled players like Wayne Ferreira or Amanda Coetzer into the world top-10 rankings at a time when South Africa was a tennis powerhouse.