The last time Marcos Ondruska lined up against Harel Levy in Davis Cup, the South African was trounced by the Israeli in straight sets as the visiting team narrowly lost 3-2 in Ramat Hasharon.
That was in 2001‚ but now they face off as non-playing captains at the Irene Country Club in Pretoria and both are predicting the tie will be as close as ever.
The clash could be decided by the showdown between the respective number ones‚ SA’s Lloyd Harris‚ who turns 21 in late February‚ and Israel’s 32-year-old Dudi Sela who was part of the team that reached the semifinals of the World Group in 2009.
They’ll be trying to lead their teams to victory and into a showdown against Czech Republic in early April.
Sela‚ ranked 97th in the world‚ has won 21 singles matches and lost 23‚ but his record on hard court is better at 21-17.
Harris‚ 289 in the world‚ is 8-2 and undefeated on hard court‚ including all the ties he’s played here.
“I think we have a slight edge‚” Ondruska said at the pre-draw press conference on Tuesday.
“But I think it’ll be extremely close.”
The resurfaced court is playing a little slow for his liking‚ although he’s hoping it’ll speed up by Saturday.
Levy said his players knew the South Africans well.
“We’re expecting a very difficult tie‚ we know they are very good players with big potential.
"Some of them are young‚ maybe inexperienced a little bit‚ but I’m sure with the home support they’ll be a very tough opponent.
“But we’re going to have to focus on our players and just perform as well as we can.”
Protests against Israel are being planned‚ but neither side is particularly worried.
Tennis SA (TSA) chief executive Richard Glover said permission for a demonstration outside the venue had been applied for.
“What we want is for‚ as long as safety’s not compromised‚ these guys to be able to play through all of this and not get rattled by it and not get thrown off by it‚” said Ondruska.
Levy‚ who said he once played a spectator-less Davis Cup tie in Sweden because of violent demonstrations there‚ said his players were unfazed.
“I can’t say we’re used to it. I don’t like to get into politics‚ but everybody has his own opinion and I respect that‚ but we are here to play sport and we are not here to deal with demonstrations.”
The tie will see an experimental shortened Cup format‚ where matches will be decided by the best of three tie-break sets‚ with the five matches scheduled to be played in two days‚ on Friday and Saturday in the case of this contest.
“I’m not sure the challenge changes‚” said Ondruska.
“I think we’ve just got to work out a way to use it to our advantage over here.
“Obviously it’s a shortened format so our guys will want to be getting out the door quickly‚ strongly over there‚ rather than in five sets … the start’s going to matter a lot more than in previous ties.”
The fifth player will also be allowed to play.
Davis Cup players unfazed by threatened anti-Israel protests
Image: Reg Caldecott/Gallo Images
The last time Marcos Ondruska lined up against Harel Levy in Davis Cup, the South African was trounced by the Israeli in straight sets as the visiting team narrowly lost 3-2 in Ramat Hasharon.
That was in 2001‚ but now they face off as non-playing captains at the Irene Country Club in Pretoria and both are predicting the tie will be as close as ever.
The clash could be decided by the showdown between the respective number ones‚ SA’s Lloyd Harris‚ who turns 21 in late February‚ and Israel’s 32-year-old Dudi Sela who was part of the team that reached the semifinals of the World Group in 2009.
They’ll be trying to lead their teams to victory and into a showdown against Czech Republic in early April.
Sela‚ ranked 97th in the world‚ has won 21 singles matches and lost 23‚ but his record on hard court is better at 21-17.
Harris‚ 289 in the world‚ is 8-2 and undefeated on hard court‚ including all the ties he’s played here.
“I think we have a slight edge‚” Ondruska said at the pre-draw press conference on Tuesday.
“But I think it’ll be extremely close.”
The resurfaced court is playing a little slow for his liking‚ although he’s hoping it’ll speed up by Saturday.
Levy said his players knew the South Africans well.
“We’re expecting a very difficult tie‚ we know they are very good players with big potential.
"Some of them are young‚ maybe inexperienced a little bit‚ but I’m sure with the home support they’ll be a very tough opponent.
“But we’re going to have to focus on our players and just perform as well as we can.”
Protests against Israel are being planned‚ but neither side is particularly worried.
Tennis SA (TSA) chief executive Richard Glover said permission for a demonstration outside the venue had been applied for.
“What we want is for‚ as long as safety’s not compromised‚ these guys to be able to play through all of this and not get rattled by it and not get thrown off by it‚” said Ondruska.
Levy‚ who said he once played a spectator-less Davis Cup tie in Sweden because of violent demonstrations there‚ said his players were unfazed.
“I can’t say we’re used to it. I don’t like to get into politics‚ but everybody has his own opinion and I respect that‚ but we are here to play sport and we are not here to deal with demonstrations.”
The tie will see an experimental shortened Cup format‚ where matches will be decided by the best of three tie-break sets‚ with the five matches scheduled to be played in two days‚ on Friday and Saturday in the case of this contest.
“I’m not sure the challenge changes‚” said Ondruska.
“I think we’ve just got to work out a way to use it to our advantage over here.
“Obviously it’s a shortened format so our guys will want to be getting out the door quickly‚ strongly over there‚ rather than in five sets … the start’s going to matter a lot more than in previous ties.”
The fifth player will also be allowed to play.
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