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Tennis SA (TSA) chief executive officer Richard Glover has advised team captain Marcos Ondruska to keep pursuing world number eight Kevin Anderson to join the team.
He said Anderson was one of the best tennis players in the world.
“Kevin Anderson divides a lot of people in South Africa,” Glover said. “There are those who respect him because he has been amazing, especially in the past two years.
“But there are question marks among a lot of South Africans because he doesn’t play in the Davis Cup. If I was in Marcos’ shoes, I would always try to pursue him to play. He is amazing as a player.”
Glover said if he was the Davis Cup captain, he would want Anderson to play for the team “every single time”.
The national men’s tennis team will compete in Group 2 of the Davis Cup Euro-Africa division next season after being relegated from Group 1. They were trashed 4-0 by Portugal in their relegation tie in Lisbon last weekend.
Ondruska revealed before the tie that he had talked to Anderson to try to get him to join the team.
“This time around was the closest Kevin could have come to play. Obviously, some of the stuff that counted against him returning included that he is still trying to qualify among the top five in the world. The timing was not ideal for him,” Ondruska said.
“Had it been for any surface other than clay, we could have had him. You always try to put these things together [getting the best players in the team].”
Anderson, who was born and raised in Johannesburg, is ranked seventh in the world and is fighting for a place in the year-ending ATP Championship.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) confirmed this week that Cape Town-born Raven Klaasen and his New Zealand doubles partner Michael Venus were the final team to qualify for the prestigious event to be held at The O2 Arena in London from November 11 to 18.
Klaasen and Venus will make their debut at the ATP finals in their first season as a pair.
Glover spoke to City Press at an event at George Lea Park in Sandton, where he announced that TSA and Kia Motors had a three-year deal to grow beach tennis in the country. He also announced an International Tennis Federation event circuit, which will take place from December 8 to 21 countrywide.
Kia has been sponsoring the SA Davis Cup team since late 2016.
