Publications
Partners
Johannesburg - South Africa received some consolation after their 4-1 Davis Cup defeat against Croatia over the weekend, and their failure to qualify for the elite World Group of the competition.
In the draw for next year's Euro-Africa Group One section, which took place at the International Tennis Federations' general meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday, South Africa were seeded second in the section behind Israel and, consequently, received a first-round bye to launch yet another bid to gain a place in the World Group, something the country last achieved in 1998.
The outcome of the Euro-Africa pairings was generally favourable for South Africa, with teams of the calibre of Israel, a possible Andy Murray-led Great Britain and the strong Belgium team in the opposite half of the draw - and South Africa due to play either Denmark or Slovenia in the second round.
In the meantime, South African Tennis Association marketing manager Bruce Davidson revealed that injuries suffered during the disappointing Croatian siege in Potchefstroom where South Africa stumbled at the final hurdle for a World Group place for the third year in a row, were of a serious nature.
"Kevin Anderson has been forced to withdraw from two ATP tournaments over the next two weeks and Izak van der Merwe might be out of tennis for as long as six weeks as a result of the wrist injury he aggravated in the Croatia tie," said Davidson.
"The setbacks could well hamper their aspirations to reach their respective milestones before the end of the year."
The 33rd-ranked Anderson had aspirations of breaking into the world's top 20-ranked players while Van der Merwe hoped to gain a place among the world's top 100 for the first time in his career.
Euro-Africa Group One draw:
First round: Great Britain v Slovak Republic; Denmark v Slovenia.
Second round: Israel v Portugal; Belgium v Great Britain or Slovak Republic; Romania v Finland or Netherlands; South Africa v Denmark or Slovenia.
