Mixed results for SA in Melbourne
Kevin Anderson stormed through to the second round of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday while countryman Rik de Voest fell at the first hurdle.
Anderson, the number 30 seed, overcame Swedish qualifier Frederick Nielsen with a straight-sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory.
The lanky Anderson took just under two hours to subdue the 28-year-old Nielsen, who recently enjoyed some unfamiliar royal treatment when he teamed up with Caroline Wozniacki at the Hopman Cup.
But it was back to reality for the 240th-ranked Dane on Monday, as he exited his first Australian Open.
The SA No 1 will face Sergiy Stakhovsky of the Ukraine in the second round of the men's singles competition on Wednesday.
De Voest, who had been knocked out in the final round of qualifying but was given a lucky break as a late replacement for injured German Florian Mayer, put up a fight against Lu Yen-hsun of Taiwan, taking him to five sets.
The SA Davis Cup veteran won the second and fourth sets but eventually went down 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6 and was eliminated from the first Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Chanelle Scheepers, the top-ranked SA women's player, will square up against former world No 2 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the first round of the women's singles on Tuesday.
Scheepers received a minor confidence boost on the eve of her campaign, rising one place to a career-high 37th in the latest world rankings released on Monday.
The match is the fourth match scheduled on Margaret Court Arena.