March 2, 2004
By Lebofsa Masha
THE Wanderers Cricket Stadium will look more like Wimbledon when South Africa meets Slovakia in an upcoming Davis Cup clash, with the organisers transforming the cricket ground into a tennis court.
Preparations for the cup-tie, over the Easter weekend from 9 April to 11 April, are well underway and tournament director Keith Brebnor is looking forward to the big event. "We are preparing the grass and it is the most beautiful thing in the world - just like Wimbledon," he said.
The Davis Cup is an annual event that sees the tennis playing countries - some 140 of them - vying for top honours. The clash between South Africa and Slovakia falls under the Euro-Africa group.
According to Brebnor South Africa not only has home ground advantage but "an altitude advantage", with Johannesburg being at an altitude of 2 000m.
South Africa's upcoming tennis wizard, Wesley Moodie, who plays well on grass, will be teaming up with veteran countryman Wayne Ferreira, while the Slovakian team will be led by a potent combination of Karol Kucera and Dominik Hrbaty.
Organisers decided to use the Wanderers as a venue because of "its electric atmosphere", said Brebnor. "The crowd goes mad at the Wanderers and we want them to cheer our players to a win," he said.
South Africa's Davis Cup team captain, Kevin Curren, said he was thrilled the South African cricket authorities had allowed the Wanderers to be used. "It's one of the world's greatest venues and should help to create a great atmosphere," said Curren.
Curren chose the "Bull Ring" as the ideal venue: "South African tennis is on its way back and we want to make a real impact in our tie against Slovakia. Our opponents are huge," Curren added. "We want this match to be really high profile, because if we win, our next match will be against one of the world's top 16 tennis nations"
He had opted to play on grass because it would benefit the South African team. "The fast grass surface will help our players, and the South Africans are also likely to adapt better to playing at altitude and will be able to adapt to conditions at Wanderers more easily than the Slovakian team."
A main grass court, surrounded by stands, and four side courts for practises will be set up on the cricket field. Up to 5 000 fans will be able to watch the action on centre court.
In keeping with the Wimbledon feel, a garden party will be held on the Saturday, when the doubles matches are played. "Box-holders will be able to mingle with celebrities, sports stars and models in a champagne and strawberries atmosphere. We want the Wanderers to be the in place this Easter," Brebnor said.
As part of the tennis festival organisers have also arranged for other sports stars from other codes, such as cricketer Jacques Kallis and footballer Lucas Radebe, to play in demonstration tennis matches.
The last Davis Cup tournament held at the Wanderers was in 1997 was disrupted by rain and had to be relocated to the Standard Bank Arena at Ellis Park.
Permission to use web site material
Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as:
- Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website
(www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency
(www.joburg.org.za)";
- If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original
article on this website;
- The name of the article's author is acknowledged;
-
The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill
in this brief online form).
Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 |
