It won’t be the feature match of the day and viewing it on court 18 will require something of a lengthy stroll for any hardy enthusiast when the R150-million Wimbledon tennis extravaganza gets under way on Monday afternoon.
But expect a considerable number of South Africans to follow the route to court 18 to witness Rik de Voest play Russia’s grumpy and growling but almost grotesquely talented 26th-seeded Marat Safin in the first round of the tournament.
If South Africans miss out on this opportunity, they might not see a South African at all in singles action in the tournament headed by number one seeds Roger Federer and Justine Henin.
Born in Milan, Italy, the amiable, articulate De Voest is credited as being the only South African among the 256 men and women in the singles draws.
Coming up against Safin in the first round will probably mean an early exit for the South African Davis Cup player, who is his country’s current top player with a ranking of 126 in the world.
For all his unpredictability and failure to emerge as a legendary great of the game after winning both the United States and Australian Opens in style, the 27 year-old Safin is a handful on any day.
At his best, he is capable of squaring up to anyone in the world and out-serving and over-powering them with his gifted stroke repertoire and power generated from his giant frame.
In boxing terminology, the match-up between Safin and De Voest would be termed a mistake between fighters in totally different divisions. Safin’s world ranking is 25; De Voest stands at 126. Safin has 15 ATP career titles to his name; De Voest none. Safin has earned approximately R95-million in prize money; De Voest little more than R3-million. Safin stands at 1,93m and weighs 88kg; De Voest is a mere 1,8m tall and weighs in at 68kg.
Two statistics they do have in common is that they were both born in 1980 and are right-handers.
And, if there is one other factor that might tend to even up the odds, it is that the temperamental Safin has openly expressed an aversion for playing on grass courts — and when the big Russian is in a bad mood, he can blow up and lose to players a lot worse than the smooth-stroking, never-say-die De Voest.
The bookmakers around London, however, are offering considerable odds on South Africa being without a singles representative at Wimbledon come Monday night — after De Voest has bowed out to the Russian bear. — Sapa