In 1962, under the shadow of the intimidating Berlin Wall, South Africa were trailing West Germany 2-0 after the opening day’s singles of their Davis Cup tie — and, with Gordon Forbes and Abe Segal down in the opening set of the doubles, it seemed the team was hovering on the brink of a 3-0 deficit and what would have been irretrievable defeat.
The articulate, but clearly disturbed Forbes, at this point, turned towards his loquacious partner and proclaimed with more than a little concern:
“Abie what do we do now?”
To which Segal replied: “Forbesy, it’s too soon to panic.”
Forbes and Segal went on to win their doubles, Cliff Drysdale and Forbes won the reverse singles and South Africa completed a memorable 3-2 victory.
In 1995 Forbes, who had become an acclaimed author with his classic collection of tennis anecdotes and memories in the compelling A Handful of Summers, wrote a second book and titled it Too Soon to Panic, recalling the epic comeback against Germany in 1962.
What a difference 48 years would seem to have made after the current South African Davis Cup squad recently emerged with their tails between their legs after suffering a humiliating 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Germany in Stuttgart in what was yet another failed bid to regain a place in the elite World Group segment of the Davis Cup after a frustrating absence of 12 years.
And with the proud tradition of South African tennis that produced world-class players of the calibre of Eric Sturgess, who reached two grand slam singles finals and was ranked fourth in the world; top tenners Cliff Drysdale, Johan Kriek, Kevin Curren, Wayne Ferreira, Forbes, Segal, Sheila Summers, Sandra Reynolds, Greer Stevens, Pat Pretorius, Brenda Kirk and Amanda Coetzer seemingly tottering, if not in tatters.
What is behind this seemingly inexplicable drain of top tennis talent in a nation that stands alongside the handful who can boast winning both the men’s prestigious Davis Cup and the women’s equivalent Fed Cup?
This week Segal lamented the decline in South African tennis prowess and said the game was in the Âdoldrums in the country.
“I don’t think we should search for excuses and alibis for the recent German drubbing,” he declared. “It was mainly because our players were simply not good enough — although I must say the blasé attitude of our number one player, Kevin Anderson, to representing his country also represents a disturbing trend in attitude since my time in the game.”
Segal pointed out that in 1962 Drysdale was ranked among the top 10 players in the world, Forbes figured among the leading 20 players and Segal’s pairing with Forbes was considered to be one of the five best doubles combinations in the world.
“How can you compare that with the present standing of our top players?,” asked Segal. “Tennis has evolved awesomely into the most testing challenge of skill, stamina and sheer grit and South Africans have simply not been able to keep up with the pace of progress in what is now only second behind soccer as the most widely played sport in the world. Our players are simply not tough enough mentally or prepared to sweat the blood required,” said Segal. “Talent abounds in the junior ranks, but that is where it seems to end. I would have given an arm and a leg to have represented my country, but this guy Anderson drops out when he has a sore toe.”
Anderson, South Africa’s top player, is ranked a reasonable 62nd in the world. But number two, Izak van der Merwe, is down in 172nd position. Rik de Voest is in 186th place and South Africa’s fourth-best men’s player, Raven Klaasen, is in 306th position internationally.
Chani Scheepers is South Africa’s highest-ranked world women’s player, in 107th place, with 18-year-old Chanel Scheepers next best in 358th place.
Nineteen-year-old Nikala Scholz, ranked 652nd, is considered to be among the best young prospects in the country, who may yet scale the top echelons.
But South Africa’s hopes of regaining an elusive World Group Davis Cup berth were made no brighter after the draw for the 2011 competition was made in London by the International Tennis Federation recently.
As a seeded country South Africa has been granted a bye in the Euro-Africa Group One segment, but this will be followed by a match-up against either The Netherlands or the Ukraine for the right to participate in a World Group play-off — with both these countries boasting players who are conspicuously higher ranked than their South African counterparts.
And now, unlike in 1962 when South Africa turned the tables on Germany, is it indeed time for South African tennis to panic?