Tennis
De Voest to lead SA attack
2009-02-26 08:54
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In the absence of the country's top world-ranked player Kevin Anderson, the task of spearheading South Africa's rise up the Davis Cup ladder will rest on the slim frame of Rik de Voest at Emperors Palace next week. The tie will be played from 6 to 8 March.
John-Laffnie de Jager, the non-playing SA Davis Cup captain, said on Monday that Anderson had not made himself available because of a heavy playing schedule in the United States. However, he confirmed that Anderson has since picked up an ankle injury which would have ruled him out of the tie against Macedonia. "It's unfortunate that we won't be able to call on Kevin (Anderson) but I'm happy with Rik's (De Voest) form and we saw him in action at the recent SA Open," said De Jager.
We have a situation this year where the players are not under contract, which was the case last year, so players are entitled to play when they wish.
However, the players have been wonderfully committed to the Davis Cup cause and they've all been enthusiastic about playing for their country. There are times when we'll have to accept that they have points to defend or improve their world ranking, which in the end will do this country's tennis reputation proud."
With De Voest moving into the No 1 singles slot, De Jager will have to make a call on who his No 2 player will be. The two players in contention are Izak van der Merwe and Raven Klaasen, who is presently campaigning in Australia.
"It's not a straight-forward call on who the No 2 will be because both players have strong claims, and we saw what they have to offer when they played in the SA Open," said De Jager. "Izak has an advantage simply because he is in the country and has been working out here for a while. Raven (Klaasen) still has to travel back from Aussie and that will mean that he could be back only some time over the weekend.
"Raven surprised us all by the way he played at Montecasino so it is only fair that I have a good look at both players during training before making a decision."
De Jager shot down speculation that doubles specialist Wesley Moodie might come into the frame for singles play. "Wesley is not playing singles these days, so he has not been considered," said De Jager.
"Wesley will be the back-up for singles and he could have warranted consideration but since Davis Cup is about the best of five sets, and three, I don't think it would be wise to overload him. I don't want to break up the Jeff Coetzee-Moodie combination either. As a doubles team Jeff and Wesley are among the best in the world and the team wants that doubles point very badly. I've seen how ties have been decided in the past purely on the outcome of the doubles matches."
De Jager is still in the dark about the playing strengths and weaknesses of the Macedonia players. "I've tried without success to find video footage of their players in action without success. One thing I know is that their players are not familiar with high altitude conditions but that's about all."
Both teams are likely to assemble in Johannesburg over the weekend and the draw which usually takes place a day before the traditional Friday start has been brought forward to Wednesday. "I should imagine the Macedonians will want to get here as soon as possible to acclimatize. Their best results have been achieved on clay. Obviously it will be good to see how they play and may be I'll climb on a tree at Emperors Palace to catch a glimpse of them at work on the practice courts," De Jager added jokingly.