SA tennis stars ready for Davis Cup showdown against Nigeria

Team captain Pietie Norval has named a squad of four players—Van Wyk, Matthysen, Phillip Henning, and Aleck Beckley, who have been in camp since Monday, preparing for the upcoming matches on Saturday and Sunday. 

Van Wyk, set to play in his third Davis Cup, is confident South Africa will progress to the World Group in September, facing an opponent yet to be confirmed.

"I feel like a lot of our players are on the up, so I think in that way, SA tennis is becoming stronger and this year and the following years, I think for sure we're going to go up in the group stages," said van Wyk.

"Obviously things can happen, but I really believe this is going to happen.

"For myself, I went through a lot of problems last year – stuff that I had to go through, so I'm looking forward to the year a lot, and I'm very excited."

Van Wyk also expressed his support for the appointment of Norval as the new captain, highlighting the 20 years of experience he brings to the team.

"I'm also very excited for Pietie joining us as the new captain, I think, as I said, we're busy going and for me, I'm very excited, I feel like he was very good at doubles especially, and in Davis Cup that is important.

"And he's for sure going to teach us a couple of things about that, so we'll see. And also just with everything, it's a new start, so we'll see how it unfolds."

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