“I WILL handle the Davis Cup team the same as I do with the Fed Cup team, there will be no difference,” said Earl Grainger, the newly appointed Davis Cup coach.
Tennis South Africa (TSA) is pleased to announce that Earl Grainger has kindly agreed to step in and take over as the provisional Davis Cup Captain.
South Africa is due to play a Euro/Africa Zone Group 2 tie against Turkey in Mersin from March 6 to 8, and there was little time available to fill the gap left by the recent resignation of John-Laffnie de Jager.
Grainger, who is one of the most successful tennis coaches in the country, was appointed Fed Cup team captain last year and has already managed to build a good rapport with all the players, so much so that he is the first coach who has been able to bring South Africa’s No 1 player, Chani Scheepers, back into the Fed Cup fold.
Scheepers, after long discussions with Grainger, has confirmed she will be playing in the upcoming Europe/Africa Group 2 tie in Tallinn, Estonia from February 4 to 7. This will be the first time in ten years that South Africa will field its strongest team.
Grainger has also managed to secure a sponsor for the Fed Cup team in KIA Motors South Africa.
As a player Grainger competed against Boris Becker, Brad Gilbert, Mike de Palmer, Paul Annecone and Dan Goldie. He won the US Sectional Indoor doubles title with Annecone, who later went on to coach some of the best-ever players such as Pete Sampras, Andy Murray and Roger Federer.
Grainger practised at the prestigious Nick Bollettieri Academy together with Jimmy Arias, Chip Hooper, Mike de Palmer Junior and Annecone.
He learned his coaching career under Mike de Palmer senior, who started the Nick Bollettieri Academy.
Players who have made their names at his Earl Grainger Tennis Academy in Gauteng Central include Davis Cup members Dean O’Brien and Ruan Roelofse as well as Fed Cup teammates Chanel Simmonds and Natasha Fourouclas.
