Veteran South African Wayne Ferreira went into the record books on Tuesday as he played his 54th successive Grand Slam tournament but the day ended in misery as he crashed out of the first round of the French Open.
The 32-year-old lost to Austria’s Jurgen Melzer 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 on the day that he equalled Stefan Edberg’s mark of consecutive appearances in Grand Slams, a run which stretches back to the 1991 Australian Open.
The South African, ranked 68 in the world, had never got beyond the fourth round in 13 previous visits to Paris and despite taking the first set, he was eventually outplayed by his 23-year-old opponent, ranked 51, in the two hours and 36 minutes encounter. — Sapa-AFP