South Africans Wesley Moodie and Rik de Voest are among the first acceptors for the R875 000 South African Airways Open to be played at Westridge Park Tennis Stadium in Durban from January 22 to 28. This is the first ATP Tour sanctioned tournament to be staged in South Africa since 1995.
Moodie, currently ranked 122, and De Voest (135) will be joined by wild card Izak van der Merwe to ensure there will be at least three South Africans in the main draw of the tournament. “I’ve never played an ATP Tour tournament in South Africa so it will be fantastic to play at home, particularly as it will be in Durban where I live,” said Moodie. “I’ve always loved playing Davis Cup in front of the South African fans so this will be special.”
In fact Moodie has scored some of his best wins in South Africa, including a Davis Cup victory over German Tommy Haas in 2005 at a Davis Cup tie in Johannesburg. Among the overseas entrants are Swiss George Bastl, Giles Muller of Luxembourg, Ivo Minar of the Czech Republic and Michal Mertinak of Slovakia, who was a member of their successful Davis Cup team that beat South Africa on a specially prepared grass court at the Wanderers Cricket Stadium nearly three years ago.
Bastl hit the headlines in 2002 when he shocked seven-time champion Pete Sampras in the second round of Wimbledon. The match was moved to court two after rain had created havoc with the schedule and Bastl came through to win 6-3 6-2 4-6 3-6 6-4 in three hours and 15 minutes. After his retirement Sampras named that defeat as the lowest point of his tennis career.
Minar had the misfortune to bump Roger Federer in two consecutive Grand Slams in 2005 and was literally wiped off the court on both occasions. Ironically he was expected to do well when they met in the second round of Wimbledon as Minar had taken him to a third set tie-breaker in their first meeting in Dubai which the world number one took 7-5.
However, at Wimbledon Minar won just nine games and then only managed three in total when the pair met a few months later in the first round of the US Open. Muller made a name for himself that same year at Wimbledon when he beat world number two Rafael Nadal 6-4 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the second round.
The big-serving left-hander was not given too much hope of unseating Nadal as earlier that year on clay in Barcelona, Muller only managed to win two games off Nadal. A further wild card for the Open will be decided at the SAA Wild Card tournament from January 12 to 15, also at Westridge Park.
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