South African Davis Cup Waiver Sparks Controversy

Written by: Staff on 17th May 2012

South African Davis Cup Waiver Sparks Controversy |

Former South African standouts Abe Segal and Gordon Forbes are less than pleased that Tennis South Africa has surrendered its right to stage its Davis Cup World Group play-off against Canada. Tennis Canada has accepted the right to host the September tie at an undetermined location

“I don’t think too many of the 185 member nations of the International Tennis Federation, let alone a country with a proven history in the sport like SA, would have made a decision like this,” Segal told South African Business Day. “Imagine Arsenal being drawn at home in a Cup tie against Manchester United and then requesting the match be staged at Old Trafford.”

Forbes, who was once the president of the South African Tennis Association, said he sympathized with the Tennis SA administration “because I had personal experience of how difficult it has become to secure sponsorship for tennis in the country, and I’m sure they did their best”.

Tennis SA has cited an inability to secure the required sponsorship money. The country also gave up its ATP sanction last year. “We tried everyone; the government, private sector, TV companies and affluent individuals who we hoped would be sympathetic,” Tennis SA president Bongani Zonde said. “But no money was forthcoming.”

Tennis SA’s Ian Smith added that the organization is not bankrupt. “But our funds are strictly limited and we had to weigh up whether it was worth spending more money on the Davis Cup at the expense of development projects and such-like.”

Segal said he was amazed that the country could not raise the necessary funds, which for a World Group play-off, would not be that steep. “SA was a force in world tennis in the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s and the sport was thriving in the country,” he said. “We attracted the best players in the world to the country, instead of turning them away.”

Topics: Davis Cup, South Africa