US Open
Last SA hope out of US Open
2010-09-08 20:30
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Johannesburg - Redoubtable doubles specialist Wesley Moodie was the last South African standing in the high-voltage US Open - but his hopes of grand slam tennis glory were summarily halted on Wednesday after quarter-final defeats in both the men's and mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows.
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Moodie, a Wimbledon men's doubles winner in 2005 and a semifinalist at the French Open Open last year, was beaten 7-5, 7-6 (2) in partnership with Belgium's Dick Norman. The duo faced the controversial India-Pakistan pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Aisam--ul-Haq Qweshi.
The 32-year-old South African also lost with Lisa Raymond, going down in straight sets to Bob Bryan and South African-born Liezel Huber of the US in the mixed doubles.
However, South African Davis Cup captain John-Laffnie de Jager has proclaimed the form of his players at the US Open as "everything I could have hoped for before the crucial World Group play-off against Germany in Stuttgart next week."
Apart from Moodie's impressive progress in the doubles, both Kevin Anderson and Rik De Voest, who are expected to be named South Africa's singles players in Stuttgart, were in top form and performed valiantly at Flushing Meadows.
De Voest had the misfortune of coming up against David Nalbandian in the early stages, but the player who has been nicknamed the "Nearly, Nearly Man" for his penchant to come within a whisker of major achievements, was not disgraced in a searing, see-sawing five-set battle against the Argentinian ace that extended to almost four hours.
Anderson's impressive progress came to an end when he lost to Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the third round, but again not without an admirable fight against a player who had already accounted for the sixth-seeded Nikolay Davedenko.
Top-rated South African Anderson will be returning to Davis Cup competition after making himself unavailable for the past two years and De Jager believes his two potential singles performers in Stuttgart have looked every bit as good as their German counterparts during the US Open.
South Africa's contribution, however, in the women's events at Flushing Meadows has been a dampener, with the country's top player, Chani Scheepers, bowing out in the opening round of the singles.
She lost in straight sets to the exotically-named Uzbekistani, Akgul Amanmuradova.