Ankle injury could cost winning Davis Cup team

• Not a dull moment
Star player Connor van Schalkwyk was taken to hospital after yesterday's hard-fought win in Pretoria.
Andrew Poolman
  • 1 Year Ago 11 August 2023
The Davis Cup adventures of the Namibian men’s tennis team have not delivered a dull moment, with yesterday’s clash against Senegal once again a tense drama of ups and downs in the fight for every point.

Following their brilliant 2-1 opening win against pool B favourites Zimbabwe on Wednesday, Connor and Codie van Schalkwyk again had to dig deep to survive by 2-1 against a determined Senegal.

So deep, in fact, that younger brother Connor had to be taken to hospital after the match to assess an ankle injury the 18-year-old had battled through during the highly competitive doubles match.

Team manager Gerrie Dippenaar was quite concerned about the injury and the young star’s prospect of continuing in the tournament, which continues today and concludes tomorrow.

Hard-hitting games

Connor had started yesterday, winning the first set against Yannick Languina by 6-1 in just 21 minutes, hitting six aces without reply. Languina then retired with an injury, handing Namibia the lead one-nil.

Codie came up against a hard-hitting Andre Seydina, managing to take the lead 7-6. However, Seydina equalised (7-5), forcing a third set, which the Senegalese won 6-3.In the deciding doubles clash, the Senegal combination of Seydina and Hassimiyou Dieng managed to hold Namibia to 10 ace serves each, although Namibia held the advantage with just three double faults against Senegal’s 12.

Looking ahead

The Van Schalkwyk brothers won the first set 6-2 but conceded the next 3-6. The third set was locked at 5-5 before the Namibians came through for a dramatic 7-5 result to win the match.

If the Namibians beat Benin today, their play-off for final position in the eight-team tournament will likely be against the hosts and favourites, South Africa, on Saturday.

If Connor should be ruled out through injury, Dippenaar could call on any of Daniel Jauss, Nguvi Hinda or Steyn Dippenaar.