Ondruska’s boys set for Davis Cup
by Chumani Bambani
2016-03-02 05:00:00.0
ALTHOUGH increasingly unlikely, the Luxembourg Davis Cup team is still crossing their fingers in the hopes of a late arrival of their top-ranked star Gilles Muller ahead of their tie against SA at the Irene Country Club.
Muller — ranked 43 in the world — had made himself unavailable last week for the Euro-Africa Group 2 tie. But the Luxembourg No1 was knocked out of a tournament in Acapulco last week, raising hopes of his return for the inexperienced team that has only one player ranked under 800, Ugo Nastasi, who is ranked 760.
"We don’t know yet," Luxembourg captain Johny Goudenbour said in reply to whether Muller could be on his way to join the team.
The rest of the team consists of Mike Scheidwele, Tom Diederich and 18-year-old Alex Knaff. Former SA Davis Cup player Marcos Ondruska will take charge of his first tie as the team captain and he is keen to get a new era going.
"This is a younger team which should drive Davis Cup tennis for the foreseeable future. They will not only drive the SA Davis Cup team, but their respective (individual) careers will be helped along the right path," Ondruska said.
The team consists of the experienced Tucker Vorster and Lloyd Harris as the two possible singles players, while Ruan Roelofse and Dean O’Brien are likely to form the doubles partnership. The draw for the tie will take place on Thursday, where the final team will be announced. Action will start on Friday at 10am with two singles matches. The doubles match is on Saturday, with the reverse singles on Sunday.
Picture: THINKSTOCK
ALTHOUGH increasingly unlikely, the Luxembourg Davis Cup team is still crossing their fingers in the hopes of a late arrival of their top-ranked star Gilles Muller ahead of their tie against SA at the Irene Country Club.
Muller — ranked 43 in the world — had made himself unavailable last week for the Euro-Africa Group 2 tie. But the Luxembourg No1 was knocked out of a tournament in Acapulco last week, raising hopes of his return for the inexperienced team that has only one player ranked under 800, Ugo Nastasi, who is ranked 760.
"We don’t know yet," Luxembourg captain Johny Goudenbour said in reply to whether Muller could be on his way to join the team.
The rest of the team consists of Mike Scheidwele, Tom Diederich and 18-year-old Alex Knaff. Former SA Davis Cup player Marcos Ondruska will take charge of his first tie as the team captain and he is keen to get a new era going.
"This is a younger team which should drive Davis Cup tennis for the foreseeable future. They will not only drive the SA Davis Cup team, but their respective (individual) careers will be helped along the right path," Ondruska said.
The team consists of the experienced Tucker Vorster and Lloyd Harris as the two possible singles players, while Ruan Roelofse and Dean O’Brien are likely to form the doubles partnership. The draw for the tie will take place on Thursday, where the final team will be announced. Action will start on Friday at 10am with two singles matches. The doubles match is on Saturday, with the reverse singles on Sunday.
