Janowicz on a high after reaching Wimbledon semi-finals

Jerzy Janowicz was once so poor that New Yorkers coughed up to buy him tennis shoes at the US Open before his parents sold their sports shop to keep their son on the road.

Two years ago, when he was ranked at a lowly 221 in the world, the giant Pole didn't have the cash to buy an air ticket to the Australian Open and in his junior days, he even was offered fantastic riches to dump Poland and play for Qatar.

No wonder the 22-year-old native of Lodz collapsed in tears after beating compatriot Lukasz Kubot to reach his first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

The victory made him the first Polish man to reach the last-four of a major while it also permanently banished his financial worries. As a semi-finalist he collects at least US$610,000.

"I was practising really tough my whole life. I had some troubles also during my career. You are practising and working for that kind of moment. It wasn't easy to control these emotions," said the 2.03m tall Pole.

Twelve months ago, Janowicz arrived at Wimbledon ranked 136 and had to qualify.

He made the third round and at the end of the year he had proved that performance was no fluke when he made the Paris Masters final, again having to come through the qualifiers.