SA's Davis Cup hopes in tatters

Johannesburg - South Africa will play in the Euro-Africa Group I division of the Davis Cup again next season after they lost 4-1 to Canada in their World Group playoff in Montreal at the weekend.

The underdog South Africans, who had put up a valiant fight to win the doubles rubber, were eventually halted on Sunday as the hosts ran away with the tie to retain their place in the top tier of the men's global team competition.

World No 15 Milos Raonic beat the SA team's top-ranked player, Izak van der Merwe, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 on the final day, and Frank Dancevic defeated debutant Nikala Scholtz 6-2, 6-2.

Van der Merwe and doubles specialist Raven Klaasen had kept the tourists in contention with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/5) victory over Vasek Pospisil and Daniel Nestor on Saturday.

On the opening day, Van der Merwe had gone down to Pospisil and the gutsy 21-year-old Scholtz had narrowly lost to Raonic to put South Africa on the back foot.

The South Africans, defeated in the playoffs for the fourth year in succession, were without the country's top-ranked player, Kevin Anderson, who made himself unavailable for the tie, and Davis Cup veteran Rik de Voest, who injured his wrist on the eve of the playoff.