Doubles champ Huber lost to SA

2007-01-26 22:38

Christo Buchner

Durban - Liezel Huber has won her final Grand Slam tournament as a South African citizen.

Huber, 30, who won the doubles title at the Australian Open with Cara Black of Zimbabwe, will become an American citizen in March.

Her brother, Janus Horn, said the treatment she has received from South African tennis authorities over the past few years, along with the attitude of Sam Ramsamy, South African Olympic chief, have influenced her decision to become an American citizen.

Huber is married to an American, Tony Huber. Her dream is to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games, but she knows it will not be as a South African.

Horn said: "Ramsamy told Liezel at the Athens Olympics that there isn't a doubles pair that would be able to win a medal and she wasn't given the opportunity to participate. A week after the Games she beat the Chinese pair that won gold (in Athens).

"That really upset her and it made the decision easier to obtain American citizenship. She's still a South African at heart, but she hasn't got good memories of South African tennis.

"She wanted to play for South Africa in the Fed Cup in Durban a few years ago. All she asked was a return flight ticket from the US, but they weren't prepared to pay. She was in the squad to play against Austria in 1997, but they didn't want to select her to play.

"She didn't come home for three years, and when she returned last year, she was so happy she didn't really wanted to leave again. She and her husband are going to open a tennis centre in the US and she won't return to live in South Africa again.

Apart from Greer Stevens (Smith), Huber, who won the doubles title at Wimbledon in 2005, is the first South African woman who can write more than one Grand Slam title on her CV.

Smith, playing as Stevens, won the mixed doubles at Wimbledon with Bob Hewitt in 1977 and 1979 and also the American Open in 1979. Stevens said on Friday that Huber's performances have been fantastic.

Horn said there was great excitement in the guest house he manages in Durban about his sister's Grand Slam victory.

"I spoke to her shortly after their victory and the only thing she wanted to know was if I saw on television that she had greeted us.

- Beeld