Scholtz to make Davis Cup debut
College student faces Raonic in tiebreak showdown
“It’s a tough position to put (Scholtz) in, but we don’t have a choice.” SOUTH AFRICAN CAPTAIN JOHN-LAFFNIE DE JAGER
Nikala Scholtz might have spent this weekend warming up for Ole Miss-Texas football game by dropping into The Grove, the stand of oak trees in the middle of the University of Mississippi campus that is regarded as the best tailgating venue in America.
Instead, the South African tennis player is in Montreal where he will make his Davis Cup debut Friday (1 p.m., Sportsnet, TVA).
The 21-year-old said he plans to enjoy the experience even though he figures to be outmatched against Milos Raonic, who checks in at a career-high No. 15 in the ATP rankings.
Scholtz, who earned AllAmerican honours last year as a freshman at Mississippi, is ranked 14th but that’s in the NCAA rankings and there’s a wide gap between the pro tour and college tennis. The only reason Scholtz is playing is because South African captain John-Laffnie de Jager doesn’t have any other players in the best-of-five match series, which determines which team advances to the 16-nation World Group in 2013.
South Africa’s problems began when Kevin Anderson, who is ranked No. 35, begged off with concern over a wonky knee although he is healthy enough to play in the World Team Tennis finals this weekend in Charleston, S.C.
De Jager still had Izak van der Merwe, who will open the competition Friday against Vasek Pospisil, and Vancouver-based Rik de Voest. But de Voest, who is the secondranked South African behind Anderson at No. 170, injured his right wrist in training this week and that meant that Scholtz, who was here to serve as a training partner and to soak up some experience, got the call.
“I was hitting in practice and there was one ball that I didn’t hit cleanly,” de Voest said. “It started swelling. I’ve played with injuries before but I knew I couldn’t help the team.”
“It’s a tough position to put (Scholtz) in but we don’t have a choice,” de Jager said. “We have a few other players in Europe but they didn’t have visas for Canada.”
“I only play a couple of pro tournaments each year because of school,” said Scholtz, who got as high as No. 580 two years ago. But he lost in the three Future sevent she played this year and doesn’t have a current singles ranking. His doubles ranking is No. 1435.
The opening singles between Pospisil and Van der Merwe promises to be the most competitive match of the weekend. Pospisil has been in the top 100 this year and currently is No. 116, while van der Merwe is No. 188. Both have spent most of their time on the Challenger circuit, but they’ve never played each other.
Pospisil could have a busy weekend. He’s pencilled in to join Daniel Nestor in Saturday’s doubles against Raven Klaasen and Van der Merwe.
The South Africans won a Challenger event this year in Uzbekistan and have more experience as a team, but the 40-year-old Nestor is No. 3 in the ATP doubles rankings and he and Pospisil are 2-0 in Davis Cup play.
Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau has the option of replacing Pospisil if he has a long match on Friday and the Canadians have some depth with Raonic and Frank Dancevic.
The reverse singles Sunday will have Raonic play Van der Merwe at 1 p.m. followed by a match between Pospisil and Scholtz. Both captains have the option of using substitutes if the series has been decided.
Canada qualified for the 2012 World Group by beating Israel last September but lost to France in the first round and was drawn against South Africa in the playoff tie. South Africa earned its spot by advancing through the Europe-Africa Zone competition.
The Canada-South Africa matchup is one of 14 ties being contested this weekend, including the World Group semifinals which see topranked Spain home to the U.S. while the Czech Republic travels to Argentina.