It's only the start of 2011 and South African tennis looks like it's going to have a rosy year! Not only is their #1 player, Kevin Anderson, in the final of the South Africa Open in Johannesburg this week, their #2 player, Ivan Van Der Merwe, reached the semifinal! Currently ranked #170, he could rise up a little because of his performance this week. He's also all like Kevin and if he continues to play well, he should reach the Top 100 by year's end! The key is to make it into the main draw of a Grand Slam. That should speed up the ranking rise. This was his path to the semi-finals -
SF - lost to Somdev Devvarman (IND) (#110) 62 64
QF - Simon Greul (GER) (#130) 76(5) 62
2R - Dustin Brown (JAM) (#89) 46 75 63
1R - Stephane Robert (FRA) (#123) 63 62
Izak's opponents were all ranked higher than him! Also, he had the support of the local crowd, and he made good use of it. Too bad, he could not make it an all South African final.
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