Earlier this month, Jasmine Paolini achieved an improbable feat, reaching back-to-back Grand Slam finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
The Italian’s run was remarkable in Paris, but even more extraordinary in London, considering she had never won a main draw match at Wimbledon prior to this year.
The two Grand Slam finals are undoubtedly the highlight of what has become a career-best season for Paolini, at the ripe age of 28.
Barbora Krejcikova, who beat Paolini in the Wimbledon final, has herself enjoyed almost all of her Grand Slam singles success after the age of 25.
In a sport renowned for its teenage prodigies, the stories of players like Krejcikova and Paolini can be refreshing.
Why not then look back at some of the very best Grand Slam performances from players nearer the end of their careers than the start.
Stan Wawrinka – AO 2014, RG 2015, US Open 2016
One of the best-known recent examples of a late bloomer has to be Stan Wawrinka.
'The Stanimal’ had put together a very good career in his first 10 years on tour, reaching the top 10 in the rankings and winning Olympic gold alongside Roger Federer in Beijing.
However, there is little doubt Wawrinka’s best tennis was played much closer to the age of 30.
Winning slams in three consecutive years during a period where the greats of the 21st century continued to roam the tour is no ordinary achievement.
Wawrinka beat both Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in Grand Slam finals, with the first coming just two months before his 29th birthday, and the (presumptive) last at the age of 31.
Angelique Kerber – AO 2016, US Open 2016, Wimbledon 2018
A player who followed a very similar path to Wawrinka was Angelique Kerber.
Kerber reached the US Open semi-finals in 2011 and even achieved a top five ranking in 2012, but her greatest successes would have to wait a few more years.
Kerber swept the hard-court slams in 2016, including a famous win over Serena Williams in the final at the Australian Open.
The German won both titles at the age of 28, becoming the oldest player to claim the number one ranking in the process.
Her Wimbledon triumph two years later was the cherry on top of a remarkable run deep into Kerber’s career.
Wayne Ferreira – AO 2003
Taking a step back in time, Wayne Ferreira’s run at the 2003 Australian Open in many ways captures the essence of a late bloomer Grand Slam run.
Whilst by no means a late bloomer when assessing his career as a whole, the South African’s efforts in January 2003 were a delightful surprise.
Ferreira seemed to have made the deepest slam run of his career in his early 20s, reaching the Australian Open semi-finals in 1992.
Ferreira failed to match that effort for over 10 years, before making an unlikely return to the last four of the event at the age of 31 in 2003.
The 1992 Olympic silver medallist would defeat seeds Tommy Robredo and Juan Carlos Ferrero enroute to a semi-final defeat at the hands of eventual champion Andre Agassi.
Francesca Schiavone – RG 2010
The triumph of 29-year-old Francesca Schiavone at the 2010 edition of Roland Garros was a surprise for more than one reason.
Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam title, defeating Sam Stosur in the final.
Alongside making history for her country, Schiavone was an unlikely winner, having never previously made it past the quarterfinal stage at a major in singles in 38 attempts.
Schiavone defeated several more fancied opponents on her way to the title, including future Grand Slam champions Li Na, Caroline Wozniacki, and of course Stosur.
A remarkable run, which was almost replicated the following year when Schiavone again made the final, but this time fell at the final hurdle.
Li Na – RG 2011, AO 2014
Who was it that defeated Schiavone in the following year’s Roland Garros final?
A fellow first time Grand Slam champion at the age of 29, Li Na.
The popular Chinese champion had endured a heavily disrupted career up to that point, but her final years on tour were undoubtedly her best.
Li Na went on to capture the Australian Open Crown in 2014 at the age of 31, finally reaching the heights she had looked capable of achieving for so long.
Kevin Anderson, US Open 2017, Wimbledon 2018
Kevin Anderson had long posed a serious threat on the ATP tour, with the big-serving South African capable of playing anyone off the court on his best days.
Anderson had steadily climbed the rankings over the years, but only spent one week inside the top 10 before his 30th birthday.
A late flourish would come to define Anderson’s career though, as seemingly from nowhere, he reached slam finals in consecutive years.
First, Anderson made it to the US Open final in 2017, having started the tournament ranked outside the top 30.
Defeated by Rafael Nadal in Flushing Meadows, Anderson would repeat the trick at the following year’s Wimbledon, now aged 32.
It took another of the greats to stop his run at SW19, this time a resurgent Novak Djokovic.
Nonetheless, Anderson’s late career performances will surely prove to be his tennis legacy.
Tatjana Maria – Wimbledon 2022
One of the most surprising of all the late-bloomer Grand Slam successes has to be that of Tatjana Maria.
The German toiled on the WTA Tour for years since her professional debut in 2001.
Maria’s career was far from glamorous, narrowly cracking the top 50 in 2017 and 2018 and winning her first tour-level title in Mallorca at the age of 30.
However, it was not until the age of 34 that Maria would have her finest moment on the tennis court.
Having recently returned from a second maternity leave of her career, Maria shocked the tennis world by making it all the way to the Wimbledon semi-finals, where her run was finally
ended by Ons Jabeur.
The crafty Maria had won only 12 Grand Slam singles matches in her career up to that point, in over 15 years’ worth of attempts.
Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci – US Open 2015
How better to close out this list than looking back on not just one of the great late bloomer runs, but late bloomer finals in Grand Slam history.
Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci were 33 and 32 years old respectively heading into the 2015 US Open.
Both had enjoyed excellent careers up to that point, being regular features of the top 20 in the WTA rankings in the years prior.
When both reached the quarterfinal stage in New York, few were expecting either to make it through a last eight featuring the Williams sisters, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Victoria Azarenka.
However, Pennetta got the better of both Kvitova and Halep, whilst Vinci stunned Serena Williams in the semi-finals to set up an unlikely showpiece between two first-time Grand Slam finalists.
Pennetta would ultimately win the crown, but the efforts of both Italian veterans would come to symbolise the magic of a late bloomer run on one of the biggest stages in tennis.
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