Kevin Anderson's run last week to the final of the US Open has created a wave Tennis SA is hoping to ride.
Chief executive Richard Glover warned, however, that the interest that was piqued by Anderson will not have immediate spin-offs.
"We are in a rebuilding phase. Across all aspects," Glover said.
"We live in a quick-fix society where people expect instant results. It is going to take time before what we are doing is going to bear fruit."
Glover explained his organisation needs to keep its eye on the ball at grassroots as well as high-performance level. It goes hand in glove. "You can't do one without the other. It is interlinked," he pointed to a potential virtuous circle."Clearly if we have more Kevin Andersons more people will be interested in picking up a racquet. If you develop interest, you theoretically get more people playing.
"If you grow participation and you have the right high-performance mechanisms, then you have more raw materials to choose from. If you improve your high-performance, you'll have more international players and that in turn fuels more interest."
Government juggling balls
Glover was quick to point out that sustainability applied to all of the above.
"We need to make sure that a kid who is inspired to take up tennis after watching Kevin has access to it at school."
That, however, is a battle that other federations are struggling to come to grips with...