Lleyton Hewitt said his rejuvenated form at the Australian Open this week is a welcome reward for all the hard work and sacrifices he made just to enter the tournament.
Hewitt, who turns 31 next month, had a wretched run with injuries last year with his foot complaint sidelining him for the second half of the season and almost resulting in him missing his home Grand Slam.
But after going through plenty of rehabilitation, Hewitt proved his fitness and justified his wildcard by booking his place in the final 16 with wins over world No.83 Cedrik-Marcel Stebe, 15th seed Andy Roddick via retirement and 23rd seed Milos Raonic.
His emotions almost boiled over after clinching his four-set triumph over Raonic on Saturday night as he collapsed to the ground in jubilation after the final point.
"Obviously a couple of months ago, I didn't know if I'd be able to play," he said after the 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 win.
"Obviously I didn't play much tennis last year. I always wanted to play this tournament."
"I've done a lot of hard work. It's only my close friends and team that know what we've done to get here."
"Yeah, that's probably why it's very satisfying."
"I think in terms of how much pain and stuff I played with last year, it's really only my team and people close to me and probably the Davis Cup boys sort of know what I've had to deal with."
"So, yeah, it's pleasing to come through like I have the last three matches."
Hewitt didn't get a single break point chance in the first set against Raonic's booming serve but he knew once he got his retuning game on song, the opportunities would come.
"The games I was able to break, in the second set he hit a couple loose shots purely because I was getting his first serve back," he said.
"Yeah, you just have to find a way of getting it back sometimes. As the match went on, I started returning a lot better."
"The game I broke early in the fourth set was a great game. I started off, hit a 215, 220 or something serve. I hit it at his shoelaces to start the game. I really tried to step it up as the match went on."
While few would have predicted Hewitt's run into the fourth round, the former world No.1 never doubted his ability and said it was just a matter of getting his body right.
"I was hitting the ball well in practice. It was a matter of the body more than anything," he said.
"Yeah, wasn't an easy draw. Stebe in the first round, I didn't know much about him. He's a helluva lot better player than where his ranking is at the moment."
"Then obviously Roddick and Raonic. So it hasn't been easy. Yeah, it's pleasing to win matches like that over five sets."
It doesn't get any easier for the two-time Grand Slam champion with his next opponent current world No.1 and defending champion Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic has won the past five encounters between the two with Hewitt's only victory coming way back in 2006.
"Yeah, I'll prepare as well as possible again. I'll do all the right things," Hewitt said.
"Yeah, he's the No. 1 player in the world for a reason at the moment. I'm going to enjoy going out there and having a crack."