Kevin Anderson has not given up hope of winning a maiden Grand Slam title.
The 35-year-old South African has played in two finals –in the 2017 US Open and again in 2018 at Wimbledon.
Battling with various injuries since, Anderson has slipped to 75th in the world rankings.
But he wants to make his stem dik again at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on today’s first day of the US Open.
Up against 28-year-old Czech Jiri Vesely at 5pm today, Anderson says: “There’s only a couple of people older than me in the top-100. But even Roger [Federer] at my age won a couple of Grand Slams, and [Rafael] Nadal and [Novak] Djokovic are only a couple of years younger than me.
“Most of my motivation comes from within, and what I’m capable of achieving and how my body is feeling. As long as I have an opportunity, this is what I want to do. It’s been very challenging the last few years with injuries, and fortunately recently things have been going better for me.”
He adds: “Playing seven matches to win a Grand Slam is not easy, but I’m optimistic.”