Tennis
Bulgaria dominate inexperienced South African in Sofia─── MORGAN PIEK 07:28 Mon, 19 Sep 2022
It was a tough weekend for South Africa in their Davis Cup World Group II tie against Bulgaria in Sofia. The Bulgarians won the tie against the young South Africa teams 3-0, while rain also had a big say.
In the singles, Lleyton Cronjé lost 6-3 and 6-1 to Dimitar Kuzmanov, while Philip Henning was beaten 6-0 and 6-1 by Alexandar Lazarov.
In the rain-interrupted doubles, Cronjé and Klaasen were beaten 6-3 and 7-6 by Alexander Donski Lazarov.
Klaasen said it was a tough tie, but they will learn from the experience.
"This was one of the most unique doubles experiences I've had in the Davis Cup," veteran doubles specialist Klaasen said after the match.
"Having to stop overnight at a critical juncture in the match was quite tricky, but we tried to stay calm and Lleyton played a good service game.
"We had a couple of chances but unfortunately things didn't go our way - the Bulgarian team came up with some good shots when they needed it - but overall, we thought the performance was not bad from our side.
"We wish we could have pushed the doubles match into a third set and possibly gotten back into the reverse singles, but unfortunately that's tennis.
"We gave it a good show and pushed as hard as we could, but things just didn't go our way. Now we have to regroup and try to get ready for our next Davis Cup tie."
Tennis SA is yet to confirm who South Africa’s next opponent will be in the Davis Cup.
