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#DavisCup: SA relegated after Portugal loss

───   18:57 Sat, 20 Oct 2018

#DavisCup: SA relegated after Portugal loss | News Article
Raven Klaasen and Ruan Roelofse (IOL)

South Africa lost 4-0 to Portugal in their Davis Cup Euro-Africa group one relegation play-off tie in Lisbon on Saturday.


Portugal sealed the victory over South Africa as their doubles team of Joao Sousa and Gastao Elias upset the fancied South African outfit of Raven Klaasen and Ruan Roelofse 6-4 6-7(4) 6-2 on Saturday. The doubles rubber win gave the hosts an unassailable 3-0 advantage.

Both team captains agreed to play one reverse singles rubber following the doubles. SA team captain Marcos Ondruska named debutant junior Philip Henning to do duty for his country who went up against Joao Domingues. Domingues beat Henning 6-4 6-0 to give Portugal an emphatic victory.

The loss drops South Africa back into Euro/Africa group two for 2019, while Portugal survive the relegation play-off and remain in Euro/Africa group one next year.

“The conditions were tough out there,” said Klaasen following their loss. “The court certainly was prepared well by the Portuguese to suit their games and with the capacity crowd behind them it made it tough today.”

“But we had our chances and felt we were playing well enough to win the rubber, but Joao and Gastao were just too strong.”

Roelofse echoed the sentiments of Klaasen. “The conditions certainly were tough, but we had our chances, it’s just that the Portuguese played the big points better and never let us find our rhythm. It’s never easy losing in Davis Cup.”

It was the first Davis Cup doubles loss for Roelofse in the 13 rubbers played and the first loss for Klaasen and Roelofse playing as a team.

On Friday, Portugal got off to a flying start when they won both their singles rubbers without dropping a set. Portugal's Pedro Sousa beat SA Lloyd Harris 6-1 6-1 in the opening singles rubber. Afterwards Portugal's Joao Sousa gave his country the crucial second point when he beat SA's Nik Scholtz 6-3 6-2.

“It was a tough loss and I am still trying to understand where we went wrong,” said Ondruska.

"On paper Portugal are the higher-ranked team, individually and as a team, so it was always going to be a tall order to beat them especially away. I did feel we had a chance and that the South Africans played well enough to win, but the Portuguese were just better this weekend.” 

- African News Agency (ANA)

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