Wayne Ferreira got the South African Davis Cup team off to a winning start in their Euro/Africa Zone Group I Davis Cup tie against Greece at the Groenkloof Tennis Stadium on Friday when he scored a fighting 6-3 5-7 7-5 6-2 victory over Vasilis Mazarakis.
The Greeks said earlier that what they lacked in talent they would make up in passion and they certainly were true to their promise. The 24-year-old Greek never took the pressure off the former top 10 player until he lost the pivotal third set.
At that point all the fight went out of Mazarakis and Ferreira cruised home. But despite the victory Ferreira admitted he knew it was time to quit the professional game.
”It was frustrating for me to struggle against someone I would have beaten easily five or six years ago. I’m not at the level I would like to be and that is the reason I am quitting.
”There is a fine line between a good player and a great player and right now I am just a good player. With my family now I don’t have the inclination to train and practice and every time I have to leave home to play in a tournament I am finding it harder and harder to do.”
Ferreira broke twice in winning the opening set — the fifth and ninth games — and when the South African went up 4-2 and 40-15 for 5-2 lead in the second, it appeared the match would all be over in straight sets.
But Mazarakis, with his powerful baseline game, came back well to level matters and then managed to break Ferreira in the 11th game and serve out for the set.
”At that point I thought it was pretty even and I felt I had a good chance of winning it,” said the Greek number two.
He had opportunities to break the Ferreira serve in the third game of the third set but that was when Ferrari’s experience came to the fore.
”The way he played the big points showed his experience,” said Mazarakis. ”He knew exactly what he had to do.”
At 4-4 in the third the Greek began to cramp and from that point it was all over. Ferreira took the third and broke twice in the fourth. He reached match point with a trademark Ferreira shot – a winning backhand return down the line — and converted it when Mazarakis hit a backhand wide.
The second match pits Wesley Moodie against Greek number one Konstantin Economidis. – Sapa