Anderson out in qualifying

2008-08-20 21:12

Johannesburg - All Blacks in Cape Town; all blue in Beijing - and now black and blue at Flushing Meadows in New York, with South African number one tennis player Kevin Anderson crashing out in the first qualifying round for next week's US Open.

Anderson, ranked 100th in the world and seeded second in the qualifying segment at Flushing Meadows, on Tuesday lost 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 to Ecuador's Giovanni Lapentti, who is ranked 248th in the world by the ATP.

In a battle of giants - the 22-year-old Anderson stands at 6ft 8in and Lapentti is a mere 6ft 4in - blitz serving held sway most of the time, with the 25-year-old Ecuador player holding his nerve better at critical stages.

"This is obviously disappointing news," said South African Tennis Association CEO Ian Smith, "particularly with next month's vital Davis Cup game against Monaco on the horizon.

"But," added the Safa CEO, "this only goes to demonstrate again the awesome depth and quality of tennis throughout the world. There are players who are ranked 1200 and lower who boast an impressive high level of play and losing to Lapentti, a Ecuador Davis Cup player and brother of the highly-rated Nicolas Lapentti, is no disgrace."

South African number two Rik De Voest is now the only player from the country with a chance of qualifying for the US Open singles first round.

- SAPA