Clambering into the stands – all 6’8” of him – to embrace his family and team, Kevin Anderson’s post-match celebration on Friday was more akin to that of the US Open champion than of a semi-final victor. There was more to it though than the elation of reaching a first Grand Slam final at age 31, after a four-set triumph over No. 12 seed Pablo Carreno Busta.

Granted it was arguably the best shot either man would have earned at reaching a Grand Slam final. But for Anderson, it was as much about the reward of having bounced back from a frustrating two years riddled with injuries. The South African started the season at No. 80 in the Emirates ATP Rankings after an injury-ravaged 2016. It was his lowest mark since August 2010.

Hip, leg and right elbow injuries have hindered much of this season, while last year, it was ankle surgery, groin, left knee and right shoulder complaints.

“I felt deep inside I always had a chance, but, I mean, I feel like you sort of put that at bay and focus on each match,” he said. “That’s what I have done. Here I am, almost two weeks later in the final, so that’s obviously a great feeling.”

Now he stands one win from an improbable breakthrough. At No. 28 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Anderson is the lowest-ranked man into a US Open final since the Emirates ATP Rankings began in 1973.

He is the first South African to reach the final since Cliff Drysdale at the US Championships in 1965; the first into a Grand Slam final since Kevin Curren reached the 1984 Australian Open final. He will become the first South African since Johan Kriek (1981 Australian Open) to claim a Grand Slam title should he go one step further. (Kriek represented the United States when he defended his Australian Open crown in 1982).

“My biggest hope is I’m able to inspire the kids to get out and play, because it can definitely feel like it’s a long road being so far from everything,” Anderson said. “I feel like when I’m back, I often speak at several schools, the school that I went to, I’m often giving talks and talking about that sort of stuff. As much as I can, I try and have an impact

“I try and focus on the youth coming up, and I think tennis is a great sport regardless of how far you make it, just obviously a lot of good life lessons.”

Having worked his way up through the ranks of South African tennis, Anderson spent three seasons playing college tennis in the United States at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005-2007. It proved an ideal stepping stone into the professional ranks.

He is the first player with college tennis ties since Todd Martin (1999 US Open) to reach a Grand Slam final. Many of of his best results have come on North American hard courts.

In 2015, he made his Top 10 debut in the Emirates ATP Rankings soon after beating Andy Murray to reach the US Open quarter-finals. Two of his three ATP World Tour titles (Winston-Salem 2015, Delray Beach 2012) have come in the United States; his maiden title on home soil in Johannesburg in 2011.

A run to the final at the Citi Open, in Washington D.C. and to the quarter-finals at the Coupe Rogers leading in were a sign Anderson was beginning to find his feet again. His battles now are as much mental as they are physical. But it is an element Anderson has been willing to embrace a factor which could prove the most telling factor in his latest surge.

“If you look at some of the best players that we have seen over the years and that I have been playing with, mentally they are the best competitors, as well, something I have worked hard on,” Anderson said.

“I feel like for me, some of the challenges have been to trust my ability a little bit more. I have always been very critical about myself. I feel like I’m just being a bit more patient with myself. I feel like that’s been a big change I have implemented in the last few months.”

Vintage Rafael Nadal was on full display on Friday at the US Open. Behind a bevy of bludgeoning blasts and a hyper-aggressive gameplan, the World No. 1 will play for his third title in New York after streaking past Juan Martin del Potro 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2.

Racing around the court and attacking off the ground with authority, Nadal secured his place in a fourth US Open final after two hours and 30 minutes. After dropping the opening set, Nadal sprinted to the finish line with a clinical performance, striking 45 winners, to just 20 unforced errors.

In what has been a resurgent 2017 campaign, the Spaniard made a statement in his bid to finish the year atop the Emirates ATP Rankings. Now a three-time Grand Slam finalist this year, Nadal will face Kevin Anderson for the crown at Flushing Meadows.

In total, Nadal will bid for a 16th Grand Slam title in what will be his fifth meeting with Anderson. He leads 4-0, with just one set lost. The Spaniard’s last hard-court title came in Doha in 2014.

“After a couple of years of tough moments, it has been an emotional year,” Nadal told ESPN in the post-match interview. “But being back on this amazing court and in front of this amazing crowd, and having the chance to fight for this title is amazing for me.”

It was sweet revenge for Nadal, who extended his FedEx ATP Head2Head advantage over del Potro to 9-5, emerging victorious in their first encounter at the US Open since winning just six games in the 2009 semi-finals. He has now claimed 15 consecutive Grand Slam semi-final wins since that defeat eight years ago, and has halted a two-match skid against the big-hitting Argentine, who had most recently prevailed in a deciding tie-break at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

“I played well,” said Nadal. “It was an important day for me. An important victory against a great opponent. I am playing well almost the whole season. So today was the day to play well (smiling). That’s the real thing. I was playing so-so at the beginning of the tournament and I have been playing better and better every day.

“Today was the day to play the best match of the tournament since that moment, because I played against the toughest opponent in that moment, and that opponent as I said before, was coming with big confidence. I woke up today and said to myself that today is the day that I’ll play with the right energy and I needed to increase the level of my game.

“And I knew that. A lot of times I know that and it didn’t happen, but today it happened. I felt that I was playing at the right level to win the match. And I did and I’m very happy.”

With actors Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, golfing legend Tiger Woods and fashion icon Anna Wintour in attendance, del Potro seized the first break for 3-2 as a forehand struck the net cord and dribbled over. The fortuitous bounce would be all the luck the Argentine needed, closing out the opener with eight of 10 service points won. He would punctuate the first set with a forehand fired down the line, his 12th winner.

Both players came out swinging on a brisk summer evening in New York. Nadal entered the semi-final with a tournament-leading 58 per cent of baseline points won, but it was del Potro who unloaded from the back of the court in the initial proceedings. Looking to create space with his thunderous forehand and blasting his backhand with full force, he pushed Nadal off the baseline and sent an early message.

With actors Robert Redford and Leonardo DiCaprio, golfing legend Tiger Woods and fashion icon Anna Wintour in attendance, del Potro seized the first break for 3-2 as a forehand struck the net cord and dribbled over. The fortuitous bounce would be all the luck the Argentine needed, closing out the opener with eight of 10 service points won. He would punctuate the first set with a forehand fired down the line, his 12th winner.

But as Nadal has done throughout his career, he found a way to flip the momentum in a flash. The swing was swift and sudden. The Spaniard was more hestitant to pull the trigger on his forehand down the line in the first set, but that would change in the second. Four quick winners off that wing was the reply he needed to put del Potro on his heels. Playing much faster and with more intensity, Nadal gave a big fist pump as he snatched a break for 2-0 and another two games later. Del Potro was suddenly rattled as his opponent employed more variety, firing drop shot winners and opening the angles. A bevy of deep returns earned him a third break, sealing the set with an emphatic 6-0 bagel after just 27 minutes.

Nadal refused to release his grip on the match as the third set got underway. Another forehand winner earned him the quick break in the second game and the rout was on. As fatigue began to set in for del Potro, Nadal’s confidence reached atmospheric heights. Flying around the court with an injection of energy, he would reel off nine straight games before del Potro halted the skid with a hold for 1-3. With chants of ‘DelPo!’ ‘DelPo!’ raining down from all corners of Ashe, the Tandil native sought to give the boisterous Argentine contingent something to cheer for, but Nadal continued to exploit the tired legs of his opponent. He would sprint to a two-sets-to-one lead with a flurry of fist pumps after launching a forehand smash over the back wall and continued his assault in the fourth set. Nadal broke twice more and punctuated the affair with a backhand winner.

The stat of the match? Second serve points won. Nadal claimed an efficient 72 per cent of points in defending his second serve, while del Potro won just 28 per cent. The 2009 champion leaves Flushing Meadows with his head held high after a heroic run to the semi-finals. Following four wrist surgeries, he is back to playing some of the best tennis of his career. The former World No. 4 capped an inspiring run in New York, having saved two match points in stunning Dominic Thiem in the Round of 16, followed by a four-set win over Roger Federer on Wednesday.

“Rafa just played even better the last three sets of the match and I couldn’t hit my backhand as good as I did in the beginning of the match,” said Del Potro. “He played so smart from the second set until the end of the match. He was dominant. He played well. He played so smart the second set, the third and the fourth. To be honest, I’m angry to lose a chance like this, but maybe tomorrow and after tomorrow, I will see how big the tournament was for me.” 

Pablo Carreno Busta has taken the first set over Kevin Anderson, 6-4, in their US Open semi-final clash on Friday in New York.

The Spaniard has now won 16 successive sets at Flushing Meadows, having advanced to his first major semi-final without dropping a set.

The winner will face either World No. 1 Rafael Nadal or 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s championship match.

Looking to assert himself early in the contest, it was with a shout of “Come on” that Anderson won the first point of the match and went on to secure a love hold. But the South African was the first to blink on Arthur Ashe Stadium. Three unforced errors gave Carreno Busta a 15/40 advantage with Anderson serving at 3-3, and the Spaniard converted his second break point opportunity as Anderson pushed a backhand long.

Commentating for Eurosport, John McEnroe remarked, “Nerves got the better of [Anderson]. His footwork was lethargic and he was tentative to the short balls – it cost him.” Buoyed by his breakthrough, Carreno Busta went on to serve out the opener in 33 minutes, sealing it with a 124mph serve.

Perseverance pays off. Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau haven’t had the easiest of times in the past 18 months, but the pair have come good over the past three weeks and their red-hot form has carried them to their second Grand Slam championship crown at the US Open.

Rojer and Tecau defeated Spaniards Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez 6-4, 6-3 in the final at Flushing Meadows on Friday. It is the climax of a 10-match winning run for the duo, who came into the US Open on the back of their 15^th tour-level team crown at the Winston-Salem Open. They have only dropped two sets during that period.

“The key to the whole thing is you need to communicate and be out there and fight together,” said Rojer in the on-court ceremony. “These are pressure-packed situations. That’s a strength of ours. We’ve had a great two weeks. We played well in all the matches and we did so again today.

“Congratulations to Marc and Feliciano; they are very good friends of ours. They had a great week and they were very deserving. It came down to a few points and it was a very close match,” added the Dutchman, who also took the opportunity to send a message to his family on the Caribbean island of Curacao, who had been unable to travel to New York to watch the final due to Hurricane Irma.

“It feels amazing right now. We love coming here. We love playing in New York. I never got to be on Ashe Stadium before,” said Tecau. “So it was just overwhelming to play a final. My best result here was quarter-final. Really happy to peak in these two weeks and get together a few tough wins.

“Looking back in the past few weeks, we have been working hard to get to this level. The confidence that we got from winning the week before and from beating some top teams on the way to the final counted a lot today.

“It felt great in London when we got our first Grand Slam, and we wanted to get that feeling again. We were trying ever since, every Slam that we are playing and every Slam is special. Today was amazing to be on Ashe. Huge stadium. Good support. Very happy to win today.”

“I have a great appreciation for this one,” added Rojer. “I don’t want to say maybe more than Wimbledon and the fact that I know how difficult it is to win a Grand Slam, this is only my second one, but these things are tough, man. They’re not so easy. I think both of us, we have a great appreciation for the title.”

Rojer and Tecau won their first major trophy together at Wimbledon two years ago, and would finish that season as the No. 1 duo in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, closing the year as the champions at the Nitto ATP Finals in London.

But the duo struggled to replicate that success the following year, winning just one title, at the Mutua Madrid Open, and failing to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, with injuries hampering their combined campaign.

After a tough start to the 2017 season, Rojer and Tecau hit the mark with victory in Dubai, and followed up with titles in Geneva and Winston-Salem. The victory in New York now puts them in a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. They are set to move up to third in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London.

“There’s rough moments there,” said Rojer. “Horia is a competitor. He wants to win. He tries his best. I do the same. If the results are not coming, it’s frustrating. You end up having a lot of frustrating conversations. You want to be winning matches. You want to be out there playing and finding a good rhythm, and it took us a while there to find some good rhythm. I think what happened a lot was the decision to play Winston-Salem before this week, and that got us some match rhythm coming into this week.”

The final against Lopez and Lopez was closer than the score line suggested. Tecau was broken in the seventh game of the first set, but the Spaniards couldn’t maintain their advantage as Rojer and Tecau hit back to win three successive games and close out the opener.

A break of the Marc Lopez serve in the fourth game gave Rojer and Tecau a 3-1 lead in the second set. Tecau then held from 15/40 to extend that advantage to 4-1, and it was the Romanian who served out the match, with the duo converting their third championship point as Rojer punched away a forehand volley.

“It’s been a tough set to hold serve for me,” said Tecau. “I was grinding to hold serve [in the second set]. They had a lot of chances and I was fighting hard to hold. We were just focussing on trying to get one more point, don’t focus on the title and see what happens.”

Lopez and Lopez were also bidding to win their second Grand Slam crown, having lifted the trophy at Roland Garros last year. The Spaniards’ run has moved them up to 10^th in the year-to-date standings, giving them to the chance to qualify for London with a strong finish to the season.