/ 30 April 2010

SA No 1 full of No 2

This is not a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale. It is a Kevin Anderson fairy tale — but a grim one all the same. South Africa’s number one tennis player is desperately needed for next week’s Davis Cup tie against Finland in Pretoria, but the world’s 88th-ranked player refuses to play.

More precisely, the 2m, big-serving and in-form Anderson has — in keeping with his continuing no-shows in the past 18 months — again made himself unavailable for the tie at the Groenkloof Tennis Complex. It is a vital showdown in South Africa’s renewed concerted effort to return to the World Group after more than a decade.

The reasons behind the tall player’s attitude are blurred, despite his assertion that he is seeking to consolidate his world ranking by gaining further points in a series of ATP Challenger tournaments.

It has been mooted that his relationship with South African Davis Cup captain John-Laffnie de Jager is not of the most cordial nature, although De Jager has dismissed this as a reason for Anderson’s no shows.

It has also been suggested that Anderson was so hurt by the critical, almost hostile response to his initial unavailability for the Davis Cup that he has shunned playing in South Africa. He has since missed tournaments such as the R3,75-million South African and Soweto Open.

Whatever the reason, colourful former South African international and renowned raconteur Abe Segal, who participated in the Davis Cup tie in which South Africa beat Finland in Helsinki in 1961 and is known in tennis circles for not mincing his words, has made no bones about what he thinks of the issue.

“I can’t fathom how his mind works,” said the one-time Wimbledon quarterfinalist and author of the recently published anecdotal book on the game, Hey Big Boy.

“In my time,” said Segal, “we would have given an arm and a leg to play for South Africa in a Davis Cup event. Now here is a guy who is turning his back on the world’s major team event and his country at the same time as though it was something in which only yokels compete.”

Segal pointed out that South Africa’s return to the Davis Cup World Group is where Anderson could come into direct conflict with illustrious players of the calibre of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic and could do a lot more for his career “than picking up points in Challenger tournaments”.

“What is more,” said Segal, clearly angry, “I see it as a duty for someone rated the best player in the country to compete in the Davis Cup and the South African Open. How, otherwise, are the kids going to have a tennis hero to emulate — something we need really badly right now?”

Uneasiness
South Africa’s position in regard to the Finland tie has become immersed in uneasiness, if not downright gloom. With Anderson — who incidentally beat the talented Finnish number one, Jarkko Nieminen, when the countries last met in the Davis Cup two years ago — it would have been South Africa who would top the betting boards as clear favourites.

Without him the odds are inclined to do a dramatic turnaround, with South Africa’s anticipated singles players Rik de Voest and Izak van der Merwe having their work cut out for them to at least share the kudos with Nieminen and the up-and-coming Finland number two, Henri Kontinen.

An encouraging note for South Africa’s prospects is the form of Van der Merwe in the recent Soweto Open. He reached the final before losing to Jamaica’s Dustin Brown and demonstrated a vastly improved baseline game to complement his standard serve-and-volley approach.

Off-setting this is the slump in De Voest’s results in recent tournaments, with South Africa hoping he will raise the level of his play in Davis Cup competition — something he has invariably done in the past.

Speculation is diverse as to who will represent South Africa in the doubles. A strong possibility is that De Voest will perform a dual role and partner the world’s ninth-ranked Wesley Moodie in addition to his singles duty.

As it stands, South Africa leads Finland 2-0 in Davis Cup competition, with both victories achieved in Finland — and it would be a bitter irony to taste defeat for the first time against the Finns on home courts in Pretoria.