Lithuania face unexpected in Highveld
THE Lithuanian team to face South Africa in the Euro-Africa Group 2 Davis Cup tie remains wary of the conditions at the Irene Country Club where the two teams will meet this weekend.
Today the draw for the tie will take place to see which players will be squaring up against each other.
Lithuania captain Rimvydas Mugevicius brought with him a team of four players including top seed Ricardas Berankis, Laurynas Grigelis, Mantas Bugailiskis and his son Lukas Mugevicius.
The quartet will face a four-man team that SA captain John-Laffnie de Jager will announce today from his five-man team of Rik de Voest, King William’s Town’s Raven Klaasen, Ruan Roelofse, Jean Andersen and Dean O’Brien.
Not only are the Lithuanians worried about the high altitude of the Highveld, but also their minimal knowledge of their opponents.
“I just know them from newspapers, I’ve never seen them play,” captain Mugevicius said when asked about his thoughts on the SA team.
But Berankis is relying on previous encounters with three of the SA players to assist when the two teams face each other from tomorrow until Sunday.
“Some time ago I played Raven [Klaasen], about six years ago. I don’t remember playing an official match with Rik de Voest, but we have practised together a couple of times. Then Ruan Roelofse, I’ve played doubles against him, and as far as I remember [my partner and I] won that match,” the top-seed Berankis said.
“But all of this was a long time ago, so it’s tough to say exactly how we will play and what we expect. We’ll see, we’ll look around this week and see what happens on Friday [tomorrow].”
The Lithuanians admitted that although they are accustomed to playing in various conditions across the globe, they were still trying to adjust to the pace of the ball in their week’s training leading up to the clash.
“So far so good. We’ve had time to prepare for the weekend. Personally, I feel really good. What we’ve noticed most is that balls fly a lot faster here,” said Berankis.
The second seed Grigelis added: “The conditions are very fast, but we still have time to prepare and adjust our game.
“We don’t usually play in these type of conditions.”
On paper, the Lithuanians are ranked higher than South Africa, with Berankis being the highest ranked, sitting in the top 150 in the world.
The 23-year-old ahead of the tie.
“There is a certain pressure [with being the top seed], but it does not influence me that much because this is not the first Davis Cup tie for me. We’ve had some tough ties and matches before,” he said.
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