The South African tennis team went down 4-1 to Luxembourg in their Davis Cup World Group II playoff in Esch-sur-Alzette at the weekend.South Africa entered Sunday's final day trailing 2-0 and needed to win all three matches to take the tie.There was a glimmer of hope when veteran Raven Klaasen and 21-year-old Davis Cup debutant Alec Beckley beat Alex Knaff and Chris Rodesch 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the doubles.However, the tie was over when SA's Kris van Wyk, also a Davis Cup debutant, went down 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to Knaff in the first reverse singles match.In the final dead-rubber singles contest, 18-year-old Devin Badenhorst was given an opportunity to make his Davis Cup debut, but lost 4-6, 5-7 to Raphael Calzi.On Saturday, Beckley had lost 6-4, 3-6, 3-6 to Knaff and Van Wyk went down 4-6, 4-6 to Rodesch.After the defeat, a dejected SA captain Christo van Rensburg commented: "This was a sad day for South Africa, losing to Luxembourg.
This one really hurts."The guys came out today with a really good game plan. The doubles was quite intense so it was really good that we got that match under our belt and put the pressure on Luxembourg at the beginning of the reverse singles."Kris played really well.
It was a seesaw match that was up and down with some really good tennis, but in the end, we just could not pull it out."So, it was a tough one, but a good experience for all the new boys coming in, and we'll just go back to the drawing board and find ways to get back to the top where South Africa belongs."While Luxembourg retained their place in the World Group II division of the international team competition, the South Africans were relegated to Regional Group III events to be played later this year.READ | Nick Kyrgios pleads guilty to