South African Davis Cup player Rik de Voest battled for two hours and 40 minutes to beat veteran Italian Stefano Galvani 6-3 5-7 7-6 (8) in the opening singles game of the R3,5-million South African Open at Montecasino in Johannesburg on Monday.
But fellow Davis Cup member Raven Klaasen failed to make it a double for local players when went down 6-4 6-3 to Somdev Devvarman — India’s Davis Cup kingpin who had been largely responsible for torpedoing South Africa’s hopes of a return to the Davis Cup World Group in the play-off at the Ellis Park Indoor Arena in 2009.
However, Klaasen, who had only gained entry into the main draw via a gruelling qualifying round campaign, stretched a player ranked almost 200 places above him in the world ratings throughout two absorbing sets.
In the end, Devvarman’s greater variety of strokes and ability to raise his level on key points proved the deciding factors.
‘Shocking’
The amiable 33 year-old Galvani, who is now ranked a modest 321st in the world after reaching a career-high 99th four years ago, said afterwards that he had played “bad, real bad” in a game that started in sunshine in the late afternoon and finished in the evening under floodlights.
“My service was shocking,” he added. “I served one ace throughout the match and I was so surprised my racket went flying out of my hand.”
And while the 182nd-ranked De Voest felt there were certain elements in his play that needed tightening, he believed the standard was a good deal better than Galvani had credited, with the Italian’s low-bouncing groundstrokes not easy to handle.
“In the end I think I edged through because of my greater knowledge of playing in high altitude conditions, said De Voest, “as well as the motivation I received from the small but vociferous crowd.”
And De Voest said he shared a general view that the tournament at Montecasino provided a better-than-usual opportunity for local players to make a major impact in a top-tier ATP event, with six South Africans in the main singles draw and Kevin Anderson having beaten the top-seeded defending champion, Feliciano Lopez, in a recent tournament in Australia.
The tournament gains momentum on Tuesday when both Anderson and the top-seeded Lopez make their first appearances, with South Africa’s number one player due to meet Switzerland’s Stephane Bohli in the late afternoon game and Lopez opening the night session against Canada’s Frank Dancevic. — Sapa