De Jager confident of success

Karien Jonckheere|Published 20 years ago

The South African Davis Cup team won't be completely without supporters when they take on Morocco this weekend in Khemisset. Secretly cheering them on will be both Hicham Arazi and Younes El Aynaoui, who were left out of the Moroccan side in favour of a younger crop of players.

SA captain John-Laffnie de Jager explained that while Arazi was injured and could not play this weekend, 34-year-old El Aynaoui (who has notched up the most Davis Cup singles victories for his country) was available for the tie but was told he was too old and therefore not selected.

Meanwhile, Thursday saw the draw for this weekend's tie taking place and, as a result, SA's Justin Bower will be first up against Mounir El Aarej in Friday's opening singles rubber. Rik de Voest will then take on Mehdi Tahiri.

Despite some initial difficulties on their arrival in Morocco, De Jager remains confident that his team can claim victory this weekend.

"Everything has been good in terms of preparation, although life here has been a bit of a challenge," he said. "They have really tried to make it difficult for us. On the first day there was no food and also no towels, and we had to get our own water and prepare our own courts.

And as for playing on the unfamiliar clay courts, De Jager added: "It's a surface the guys are not used to, but I have been surprised at how well they are adapting. Every day they are playing better and I'm really excited about this weekend. I think we can win it.

"Each guy just needs to focus on the things he has control over and they'll be fine. They are all really positive and the team spirit is fantastic. I have great confidence in the guys that we can win this."

The action is yet to get underway but De Jager added that he was thoroughly enjoying his first outing as Davis Cup captain. "It's a bit different being captain to being a player, and it's not easy when it comes to making decisions, but I'm loving it. It's a great honour - awesome - and I love challenges like this. If anything comes my way, I'm ready for it."