SA win one, lose one but seal overall Davis Cup victory

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PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 05: Former First Lady, Zanele Mbeki recognises Wayne Ferreira when she was introduced to the South African team after the reverse singles of the Davis Cup tie between South Africa and Estonia at the Irene Country Club on February 05 2017 in Pretoria, South Africa. (Photo by Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images)
  • Post published:February 6, 2017

The KIA South African team had a bittersweet end to their Davis Cup tie against Estonia at the Irene Country Club in Pretoria on Sunday.

In a dead-rubber final day’s play, South Africa won and lost a reverse singles giving them an overall 4-1 victory in this Euro/Africa Group 2 first round tie.

Raven Klaasen and Ruan Roelofse had already won the tie for the hosts on Saturday by clinching the doubles rubber in four sets. On Friday both South African singles players Lloyd Harris and Nik Scholtz won their respective rubbers.

In the opening reverse singles on Sunday, Harris beat Estonian junior Mattias Siimar 7-5 6-3 in 1hr 27min to give his country a 4-0 lead. Siimar had replaced injured Estonian No1 Jurgen Zopp who  collapsed on court in his Friday rubber against Scholtz with a lower abdominal injury.

Estonia then salvaged some pride by winning the final rubber.

Their No2, Vladimir Ivanov beat birthday boy, Nik Scholtz 7-6 (3) 6-3 to give the visitors their only point of the weekend.

Davis CupIn a nice touch, South African Under-16 junior players Delien Kleinhans (left) and Lara van der Merwe presented Scholtz with a cake for his 26th birthday.

Former First Lady, Zanele Mbeki, who was a guest of Tennis South Africa on Sunday, went out on court to congratulate the South African team following the completion of play (see main picture).

Said SA captain Marcos Ondruska: ‘It was an unbelievable weekend for tennis in South Africa. We had world class tennis on display, Estonia gave their all and were very competitive.

‘My team played well and I’m proud of them. The crowds were fantastic throughout and I’m thankful for the tie sponsors Axnosis, KIA Motors and Vodacom for helping us put a great tie together.’

South Africa, seeded eighth, will play second seeds Slovenia who beat Monaco 3-2 in Maribor, Slovenia.

Slovenia now travel to South Africa to play South Africa in April.

The last time South Africa played Slovenia was in 2013 away and lost that tie 1-4. However, a year earlier South Africa beat Slovenia 4-1 at the Arthur Ashe Tennis Centre in Soweto.

Pictures courtesy of Reg Caldecott