Grand Slam winners for SAA Open
Brad Morgan
21 December 2007
The early signs are that the South African Airways Tennis Open, to be played in East London from 12 February, will feature a deeper line-up than the 2007 event. Both singles finalists return for another crack at the title, while four Grand Slam title winners will also be in action.
South African Tennis Association chief executive Ian Smith described it as "a solid field" and added that he expected the SAA Open to get better each year.
No clash
In January, the event clashed with the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, but this time around the 2008 SAA Open begins well after the Aussie Open finishes on 27 January.
South African Airways is putting a lot of money into tennis. A visit to the official ATP Tour website shows that the world rankings are called the South African Airways ATP Rankings. At the year-end Masters Cup in Shanghai, the SAA logo was prominently displayed, including
on the players' seating.
Now, with a new date for the SAA Open, and a move from Durban to East London, a serious effort has clearly been made to give the event a second-year boost after its return in 2007 from a 13-year hiatus.
Thomas Johansson
Thomas Johansson has the distinction of being the lone winner of a Grand Slam singles title among the entrants.
He claimed that title in 2002 when he shocked Marat Safin in four sets in the Australian Open final, triumphing 3-6 6-4 6-4 7-6.
The 32-year-old Swede is currently ranked 62nd in the world. His best result of the year was reaching the final of the Stockholm Open in singles, while he reached the semifinals in doubles at three events, with three different partners.
Jonas Bjorkman
Johansson's compatriot Jonas Bjorkman seems to have been around for ever, having turned professional way back in 1991.
At age 35, he showed in 2007 that his
best days are not yet behind him, reaching the last 16 at the French Open for the first time in 11 years, and making it to the fourth round at Wimbledon. Just before Wimbledon, he reached the semi-finals at The Nottingham Open.
A nine-time major winner in doubles, including winning titles at each of the Grand Slam events, he qualified for the Masters Cup with Max Mirnyi, while finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and winning at the Stockholm Open, for his 51st career doubles title.
He has played 55 of the last 56 Grand Slam tournaments, missing only the 2003 Australian Open for the birth of his son Max.
Wesley Moodie
South Africa's Wesley Moodie has one Grand Slam title to his credit, having won the Wimbledon title in 2005 when he and Stephen Huss disposed of a who's who of the world's best doubles teams on their way to a shocking success.
His best singles result of 2007 was reaching the semi-finals of the Campbell's Hall
of Fame Tennis Championships in July.
Despite playing with a number of different partners, Moodie enjoyed some fine results in doubles too, winning titles in Valencia and Adelaide in ATP Tour events, while also adding Challenger titles in New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur.
Kevin Ullyett
Zimbabwe's Kevin Ullyett is also a Grand Slam winner, having captured the 2001 US Open and 2005 Australian Open titles with Wayne Black, as well as the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Daniela Hantuchova in 2002.
He has 30 career titles to his credit, including three wins with South Africa's Grant Stafford and two with Piet Norval.
Continuing his strong form in 2007, Ullyett finished the year ranked fourth in doubles. He tasted victory in Sydney and made two Masters Series finals, along with eight exits in semi-final matches.
Returning players
Stefan Koubek, who was the top seed for January's SAA Open,
returns to give the tournament another shot. He made it to the semi-finals in Durban but, battling flu and Rik de Voest, he bowed out in the semis.
After making the final of the Chennai Open to start 2007, Koubek failed to advance beyond the quarterfinals of any other ATP Tour event, although he made Challenger finals in Durban and Bratislava. Nonetheless, he is ranked inside the world's top 50 at number 47.
The winner in Durban, Mathieu Montcourt of France, after his South African Open success, continued to campaign on the Challenger circuit throughout 2007. He reached the final in Ljubljana and the semi-finals in Cherbourg, Cordenons and Besacon.
Titles for De Voest
Rik de Voest, the runner-up in Durban, and winner of the doubles title, reached another final in Tallahassee, as well as the semi-finals in Yuba City and Vancouver.
His biggest result, however, was achieved in doubles at the China Open where he teamed with Ashley
Fisher to capture his first ATP title when they beat another South African, Chris Haggard, and his Chinese partner Yen-Hsun Lu in the final.
He added five Challenger doubles titles to his list of successes, and made three finals in addition to those victories.
The SAA Open will not be the only big tennis tournament taking place in East London in February. The city will host the SAA Club Championships at the same time, as well as an international wheelchair tournament, both of which will be played on the outside courts of the Selborne Park Tennis Club.
| 
