Tennis
Boost for SA Davis Cup hopes
2010-03-08 19:43
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Johannesburg - They were celebrating in Helsinki after Finland gained a dramatic 3-2 comeback victory over Poland in the Euro-Africa Group One Davis Cup tie over the week-end - but the joy also spilt over to the South African Tennis Association headquarters in Johannesburg.
And the reason was simply that in the next round of the Euro-Africa segment of the tournament, South Africa will now have a home tie against Finland in May instead of having to travel to Europe had strong favourites Poland proved victorious on their home courts.
"Obviously this is a great boost to stage another Davis Cup tie in South Africa," said SATA CEO Ian Smith, "but we should not get carried away.
Finland proved their mettle playing on foreign soil against Poland, with old stalwart Jarrko Nieminen performing heroic feats in Warsaw and showing he has fully recovered from the injuries, which have plagued him over the past 18 months."
The 85th-ranked Nieminen performed in the best tradition of Davis Cup heroics when he first beat Michal Przysiezny 6-7 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-4 in a see-saw match, which lasted almost five hours - and then with Poland trailing 2-1 after the doubles, the Finnish number one went on to beat the 42nd world-ranked Lukasz Kubot, who recently reached the last 16 of the Australian Open, in a thrilling 6-4 7-6 6-7 7-5 match of high-class tennis.
And Finland demonstrated they were not a one-man band, so to speak, when up-and-coming Henri Kontinen overcame Przysiezny 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 7-5 under extreme pressure in another thriller that lasted well over four hours to clinch the tie.
Finnish media have hailed the success as one of the most notable moments in the country's tennis history and this will be sufficient to leave South African Davis Cup captain John-Laffnie de Jager wary of the outcome - but there can be no doubting the advanatges that usually accrue to teams playing at home in Davis Cup competition.
South Africa have produced impressive victories in Davis Cup ties at Emperors Palace on the outskirts of OR Tambo Airport in recent times before going down to India in last year's crucial World Group play-off at the Ellis Park Indoor Arena - but no decision has yet been taken on the venue for the Finland tie.