By Nangamso Mabindla
13 February 2008

ALGERIAN qualifier Lamine Ouahab gave top seed Ivan Ljubicic a run for his money on the second day of the SAA Tennis Open, played at Selborne Park Tennis Stadium on Tuesday, 12 February.

Ljubicic, who only arrived in East London on Monday, won the first set 6-4 but lost the second 4-6 to the unknown Algerian, who is ranked 294 places below Ljubicic. However, the Croatian stamped his authority in the third set, winning the game 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in 40 minutes.

"I had never seen [Ouahab] before so I didn't know what to expect," Ljubicic said. "He has seen me play before on TV or something so he knows my game. He had to qualify so he has played two matches under these conditions. He also had no pressure and I'm sure he played above himself today."

His experience had helped him to beat the Algerian and so avoid being the biggest casualty on the second day of the Mercedes Benz-presented SA Open.

South Africans had mixed fortunes on the second day, with fifth seed Rik de Voest needing two tie breaks to overcome Germany's Daniel Brands. Izak van der Merwe also won his match against Ukraine's Denys Molchanov.

Lack of experience was 18-year-old Roan Roelofse's only downfall as the youngster ran experienced Frenchman Jeremy Chardy very close in the afternoon clash yesterday.

The youngster put up a brave fight before eventually going down 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The highly ranked Wesley Moodie went down 6-1, 6-4 to Spain's Adrian Menendez.

The SAA South African Tennis Open is being played at Selborne Park in East London. The tournament's first round is being played from Monday to Wednesday, 13 February, with the second round scheduled for Thursday, 14 February.

The quarter-finals will be played on Friday, 15 February with the semi-finals on Saturday, 16 February. The finals are scheduled to be played on Sunday, 17 February. Play will start at 10am each day.