Jake White Rallies the South African Davis Cup Tennis Team
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Johannesburg - Players in South Africa's Davis Cup team must take responsibility for taking the country back to the highest level of world team tennis.
That was the essence of the talk by former World Cup-winning Springbok coach Jake White to the South African Davis Cup team on Thursday.
White, who is nowadays is in high demand as a motivational and after-dinner speaker, told the tennis players that they should be mindful of what the rugby and cricket players have done for this country's image on the international stage.
"Without wanting to put pressure on you guys, I want to tell you that it is your task to get South Africa back in the World Group," said White.
"You know that rugby is No 1 (in the world), cricket is No 1 and you are in a very privileged position because out of all the players in the country you are the ones that will take the country's tennis to the highest level.
"You the guys that will take South Africa to the No 1 group of world tennis.
"You just need to know that in order to succeed you must know that you need to give your best in the match, one from point to point.
"I rugby I'll tell my players to do their best from whistle to whistle, and that's all that will be asked of you in order to win the match.
"It's not about what you've done before, it's about what you do during the match."
South Africa's non-playing captain John-Laffnie de Jager called on White to rally the troops ahead of their promotion/relegation tie against India at the Ellis Park Indoor Arena on Friday.
De Jager first heard White talking as a motivational speaker two years ago when the South African team was really battling in the lower divisions of Davis Cup tennis. De Jager recalled on Thursday that since that talk by White the SA Davis Cup team has been on a winning streak which has now stretched to 10 games.
"It's not about how many games you've won the past, it's about using the one chance this team has to get back into the World Cup - and you must accept that you only have one chance.
"You cannot even think about losing, or what the consequences of a defeat will be. Your mindset has to be where the country will b e going as a result of victory.
"Well done on the 10 (wins), but if you don't win against India, the 10 becomes meaningless.
"Also you know that this chance has come up in the past few years, it has come up in your time, and if you don't use it you never know when it will round again."
Victory over India in three-day tie starting on Friday will see South Africa promoted to the World Group of Davis Cup and promotion will provide local tennis with a massive boost. It also means that the world's foremost players such as Roger Federer (Switzerland), Rafael Nadal (Spain), Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France), Nikolay Davydenko (Russia) could also be playing in South Africa next year because all their countries play in the World Group.
While the Indian don't have a motivational speaker addressing their Davis Cup team, the Indian cricketers are likely to watch the tennis on Saturday, when the doubles rubber is played out.
The Indian cricketers are in Johannesburg ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy tournament which starts on Tuesday.
BLD Communications
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