South Africa completed a 5-0 Davis Cup clean sweep in the Euro-Africa Group Two tie at Emperors Palace on Sunday — but, to their credit, an outplayed Danish team fought to the bitter end.
Indeed, it was the final match of the entire tie — in which 24 year-old South African Izak van der Merwe accounted for the gritty, red-haired Martin Pedersen 7-6 (12-10) 6-4 — that produced the most exciting and absorbing tennis on view for an appreciative 2 000 capacity crowd.
Earlier on Sunday, South African number one Kevin Anderson literally towered over Denmark’s 1 032-ranked replacement, Thomas Kromann, and used his 2m height to serve his opponent off the court while winning 6-1 6-3 in only 57 minutes. — Sapa