'Beijing blues' hits SA tennis

2008-08-05 20:25

Johannesburg - The "Beijing blues" struck early for South Africa on Tuesday when doubles specialist Wesley Moodie was forced to withdraw from the Olympic Games tennis tournament with a crippling knee injury.

Moodie and Jeff Coetzee are currently placed sixth in the world in the ATP race for the eight positions in the World Masters Doubles tournament at the end of the year and were tipped as legitimate contenders for a bronze medal at the Olympics - if not better.

"Obviously Wesley is totally devastated," said South African Tennis Association CEO Ian Smith in confirming the shock news. "But he has been told that the torn cartilage he suffered at Wimbledon could now keep him out of tennis for six months."

Smith said the International Tennis Federation in conjunction with the Olympic organisers had agreed that South Africa's singles representative at the Games, Kevin Anderson, would be allowed to replace Moodie and partner Coetzee in the doubles as well.

But Anderson, South Africa's number one singles player, is ranked 164th in the world in doubles - against Moodie's 24th ranking - and the prospects of a tennis medal for South Africa would seem to have been greatly diminished.

After playing at Wimbledon, Moodie had been medically advised not to play in further tournaments before the Olympic Games and had consequently withdrawn from the South African Davis Cup team that trounced Denmark 5-0 at Emperors Palace recently.

"But the injury has turned out to be a lot more serious than initially envisaged," said Smith, "and it could keep him out of tennis for the rest of the year."

- SAPA