Former Tennis Champ Johan Kriek’s Fond SA Memories as He Heads to US Open

South African expat and former tennis champion, Johan Kriek, has updated his Facebook timeline with a fantastic trip down memory lane… as he escapes Hurricane Irma (which is heading for his home in Florida), and returns to the US Open to support fellow SA expat Kevin Anderson as he steps onto the court at Arthur Ashe stadium tomorrow, making history as the first South African ever in the US Open Final.

Kriek was previously the only South African – in the Open era – to have made it to the US Open Semi-Finals (in 1980). Until now he remains the only South African to have won a Grand Slam – having won the Australian Open in 1981. (He won again the following year, but as an American citizen.)

Here is the message Johan Kriek posted on Saturday:

Since I was a young kid, I was into adventure. My first under 10 tournament, my grandparents took me to Nelspruit in the winter in a pickup track and a collapsible sleeping caravan for 4.

It was cold, so Grandma would make hot porridge for me in the morning before my matches.

I didn’t have a sweater but no problem: grandma went to the store, bought some thick wool and knitted a white cardigan sweater with a pattern on the front with red and blue stripes on the sleeves and the v-neck.

I had my little red hat ready to go and I won the tournament, which was my first junior tournament. That solidified the tennis bug.

Fast forward to 2017 US Open…

I just returned home to Florida from the first week at the US Open with my family, just to learn that a hurricane of historic proportions is about to hit my home. At the same time I was asked to come and do an event in Arkansas, so the whole family and the dog hit the road up north.

It was an adventure to say the least. Never seen that many dogs on the road; people streaming north by the thousands.

Gas stations out of gas, restaurants and hotels packed. Took the backroads all the way to north Florida. iMaps rock!

While driving on back roads I’ve seen beautiful small towns and beautiful farm lands with all kinds of crops including cotton. Brought back early childhood memories of farming in South Africa.

The only hotel we could find was in Panama City, FL – nearly 600 miles away from where we started the trip in West Palm Beach…

With so much attention on Kevin Anderson’s historic US Open run and me being the last and only South African to win a Grand Slam tournament; I’ve been in demand for Interviews for media from all over the world.

While having breakfast this morning, my wife and I decided to drive to Nashville, TN to drop off our kids and the dog with my family and take an early flight back to NYC to be live on Arthur Ashe to support Kevin vs Rafa.

I’ve been doing live Skype Interviews from my iPhone while driving through beautiful country land in Alabama.

Once kids and the dog are all safe and happy on the TN ranch with chickens, goats, duck and various other critters, we will be on the way back to the US Open early in the morning…

Apart from having a tennis academy, Kriek is becoming renowned as founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to delivering clean water to the world’s neediest communities.

Kriek (seen below with America’s President Donald Trump) became a naturalised American citizen in 1982.

But we reckon his heart will always be South African… seen below at a Parade of Nations at Van der Meer’s…