WEDNESDAY, 5.15PM:
WAYNE FERREIRA’s hopes of making it to the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne were dashed on Wednesday when he lost to men’s fourth seed Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden in the second round. Bjorkman was two sets and a break down to Ferreira, but performed a courageous comeback to pull through to win the match 6-7 4-6 6-4 6-2 6-3.
WEDNESDAY, 11.30AM:
WORLD number four Amanda Coetzer demolished Austrian Barbara Paulus 6-2 6-0 to proceed to the second round of the Australian Open tennis championships on Tuesday.
Another South African, Joannette Kruger, also went on to the second round after her opponent, Mexican Angelica Gavaldon, retired with a back injury. Kruger was leading 6-0 2-0 3-0 at the time.
There were, however, two South African casualties on the day. Grant Stafford was on the receiving end of a virtually flawless performance from ninth seed Chilean Marcello Rios, crashing to the talented left-hander 6-1 6-0 6-3.
Marcus Ondruska was also sent packing by American Richey Reneburg. Ondruska, who was not near his best, went down 6-3 6-1 6-1.