/ 20 October 2008

Moodie is back and in form

When South African Davis Cup player Wesley Moodie suffered a recurring knee-ligament injury at Wimbledon in July, the disconcerting medical diagnosis was that he could be out of tennis for the remainder of the year.

It was a blow that kept the 29-year-old former South African number-one singles player — now seemingly more of a doubles specialist — out of successive Davis Cup ties against Denmark and Monaco, the Olympic Games and the United States Open.

It also seemingly put paid to the beckoning prospect of Moodie and Jeff Coetzee qualifying for the year-end’s prestigious Masters doubles finals in China.

The big-serving, 1,95m Moodie has not only recovered from his injury, but he has also started playing after a break of more than three months as though he had never been out of the game.

After Moodie and Coetzee reached successive semifinals in ATP tournaments in Stockholm and Madrid in the past two weeks, they are again well-placed in eighth position to qualify among the ATP’s top-eight doubles combinations who will make up the Shanghai field next month.

What is more, the contrasting Moodie-Coetzee tandem — labelled the ”Mutt and Jeff” tandem for their difference in height of close to a metre and their contrasting styles of play — lost in three tantalisingly tough sets in both the Stockholm tournament and the Madrid Masters to the eventual winners.

South Africa’s recognised top doubles pairing were shaded by Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett in Stockholm and went down 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 12-10 to Poland’s up-and-coming Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenbeg in a game that hovered on a tightrope until the final point.

”Moodie’s stunning return to tennis is not only a big boost for him and Jeff to share in the lucrative prize money available in the Masters doubles finals,” said South African Tennis Association CEO Ian Smith, ”but it is heartening news for South Africa’s prospects in next year’s Davis Cup ties when South Africa will be playing in the Euro-Africa Group One segment and hoping to qualify for a return to the star-studded World Group in 2010.”

The Moodie-Coetzee combination has already earned close to R4-million in prize money this year. — Sapa