24 January 2008

South Africans Rik de Voest and Kevin Anderson have joined countryman Wesley Moodie among the first acceptors for the R875 000 South African Airways Tennis Open to be played at the Selborne Park Tennis Stadium in East London from 12 to 17 February.

The ATP Tour announced the official player acceptance list for the tournament on Thursday. It confirms the top 22 ranked players entered and accepted for the tournament's main draw.

Additional places
The balance of the 32-man draw will be made up of four qualifiers, four wild cards and two special exemption spots reserved for players based on their performances at other ATP events being played at the same time as the qualifying event for the SAA Tennis Open.

The qualifying tournament takes place at Selborne Park on 9 and 10 February.

Ian Smith, the CEO of the SA Tennis Association (SATA) and tournament director of the SAA Open said SATA is reserving its right to announce the wild card spots at the last minute.

Wild cards
"We are still hopeful in securing one or two big names for the tournament and, with the acceptance list confirmed, the only chance we have of bringing the big names to Selborne Park will be through offering them a wild card spot," he explained.

Moodie, currently ranked 164, and De Voest (118) will be joined by rising local star Kevin Anderson (208) to ensure there will be at least three South Africans in the main draw of the tournament.

Anderson who recently qualified for his first Grand Slam at the Australian Open is excited to be in the main draw. "I've never played an ATP Tour tournament in South Africa, so it will be fantastic to play at home and in the main draw," he said.

"I've always loved playing junior events in East London, so to be part of the SAA Open as a starting out Pro at Selborne Park is a dream come true," he added.

Top 100
Three players in the main draw are ranked in the top 100 of world tennis. They are the Swedes Thomas Johansson (51) and Jonas Bjorkman (67), as well as Stefan Koubek of Austria (68).

De Voest is the highest ranked South African on the acceptance list at 118. Last year, he beat Koubek of the SAA Tennis Open in Durban before losing to Mathieu Montcourt of France in the final.

Johansson won the 2002 Australian Open title and was ranked seventh in the world in the same year.

Bjorkman has played 61 Davis Cup ties for Sweden and has won six singles titles and 51 doubles titles, earning over $14 million in prize money in his career.

Acceptance List

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