'Of course I'm South African," Kevin Anderson says with a slight American drawl. The 2018 Wimbledon men's singles finalist and fifth-ranked tennis player in the world, often has to defend his nationality because he has lived in the US for 13 years and spends little time in his home country.
"There has been a lot of talk about me being in the USA, but from pure necessity to make it in professional tennis I had to do it," Anderson says in an interview from Carnoustie Golf Club where he was watching The Open golf championship.
"America is definitely an adopted home - my wife (Kelsey) is from the country - and I'm not going to pretend that it's not.
"But at the same time I feel very South African. It gives me a lot of pride to have the South African flag next to my name when I'm playing. I love connecting with South Africans across the world.
"When I come back to South Africa it means a lot to me, and I love doing clinics and going to various schools to try and grow the sport. I also connect with various other South African athletes [cricketer Morne Morkel was in his box at Wimbledon's Centre Court last Sunday] and feel part of the South African sporting community."
Schooled at St Stithians College in Randburg, Anderson took a scholarship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005 and has made the US his home ever since.
GO TO COOL CITIES
He met Kelsey, a top college golfer at university, a few months after arriving and the pair were married in 2011. She travels to most of his events, organising his schedule and providing support to help make the nomadic lifestyle feel normal.
"One of the benefits of being a pro tennis player is that we travel the world and go to cool cities," Anderson says.
"It's a little tough sometimes to do sightseeing because I'm either at the courts, or at the gym. I might need to rest and recover, so doing excursions can sometimes be tiring. Occasionally opportunities present themselves to get out there.
"It's great that Kelsey travels with me and our dog tags along too, so it feels like home. I have several hobbies and I really like to play guitar [he is getting into old Blues classics] and we have TV shows that we like to get stuck into."
At 32, Anderson is at the top of his game, winning the ATP tournament in New York earlier this year as well as two final appearances in the last four men's Grand Slams - the 2017 US Open and Wimbledon last week.
Only all-time great Rafael Nadal has played in as many major finals in the past 10 months.
Although it appears that Anderson is a late bloomer, he has spent his entire life working towards being the best player in the world...