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R/£ Chardy's motivated to go one better in SA Open after defeat in this year's title match
December 24, 2009 Edition 1
Sy Lerman
JOHANNESBURG: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga may not be defending his South African Open tennis title at Montecasino in February, but heading back for 2010 event in February will be big-serving fellow Frenchman Jeremy Chardy, the beaten finalist in this year's tournament.
The entries for the South African Airways-sponsored tournament were released yesterday, and indications are that Chardy, an elegant strokemaker ranked 32nd in the world, will be seeded third behind already named top drawcards such as World No 13 Gael Monfils and No 17 David Ferrer of Spain.
And with the dynamic, charismatic Monfils and Chardy both in the field, the colourful French influence at Montecasino is sure to again feature prominently in spite of Tsonga's absence.
The main threat to the remaining two modern-day French musketeers will, in all probability, be Ferrer, who recently emerged as the hero of his country's triumph in the Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic.
Ferrer trailed Czech opponent Radek Stepanek 6-1 6-2 before clawing his way back for a dramatic five-set victory in typically tenacious fashion after more than four hours.
Chardy, who upset the second-seeded Ferrer in this year's SA Open, is hoping to go one step further next February by annexing the R550 000 winner's prize and the 250 ATP ranking points that go with it.
The 22-year-old former Wimbledon junior champion says he has tried to base his style on the great Pete Sampras. He is also a fan of French soccer club Paris St Germain and has ambitions to become an actor when his tennis career is over.
Other players of note who have entered the 2010 SA Open include Spaniard Feliciano Lopez, Jarkko Nieminen of Finland, German Nicolas Kiefer and former Wimbledon semi-finalist Xavier Malisse of Belgium.
Kiefer, still a dangerous floater, has been rated as high as fourth in the world, but his ranking is now only 116th and he is no longer the force he was when beating South African Wesley Moodie to clinch a key Davis Cup tie for Germany at Ellis Park some years ago.
A more recent Davis Cup attraction will be Indian Somdev Devvarman, who played a crucial role in South Africa's 4-1 defeat in the World Group play-off earlier this year.
No South African has made the 131st world-ranking cut-off for automatic acceptance into the SA Open. - Sapa
ACCEPTANCES FOR SA OPEN
Gael Monfils (Fra, World No 13), David Ferrer (Esp, 17), Jeremy Chardy (Fra, 32), Feliciano Lopez (Esp, 47), Marco Chiodinelli (Sui, 56), Marc Gisquet (Fra, 58), Florent Serra (Fra, 65), Rajeev Ram (Usa, 79), Jarkko Nieminen (Fin, 88), Yen-Haun Lu (Tpe, 98), Stephane Robert (Fra, 108), Kristof Vliegen (Bel, 110), Bjorn Phau (Ger, 111), Karol Beck (Svk, 114), Nicolas Kiefer (Ger, 116), Harel Levy (Isr, 119), Steve Darcis (Bel, 122), Blaz Kavcic (Svk, 125), Somdev Devvarman (Ind, 126), Ivan Navarro (Esp, 127), Josselin Ouanna (Fra, 130), Oleksandr Dolgopolov (Ukr, 131).
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