The South African KIA Davis Cup team captain, Marcos Ondruska, has named a competitive squad to take on Bulgaria in their Euro/Africa Group II tie at the Kelvin Grove Tennis Club in Cape Town on the weekend of 13 and 14 September.
The four-man team contains a mixture of experience and young talent – specifically: Lloyd Harris, Raven Klaasen, Ruan Roelofse and Philip Henning.
Tennis South Africa (TSA) on Tuesday also announced a trio of next generation young players, who will join the squad as practice partners for the week - in Richard Thongoana and Bertus Kruger (both US College based players) and Joubert Klopper (the current SA under 18 Junior National singles champion).
In announcing the team ahead of the crucial tie, Ondruska said: “Everyone is really excited about playing in Cape Town in this thrilling tie. The team is in great form leading up to this point.
“Lloyd is enjoying a career high rankings wise and playing consistently well against the top players in the world. Raven is always a stalwart for the team, and his leadership and experience provide such an opportunity for all the players to learn all things tennis.
“His doubles Davis Cup partner - Ruan - is in fine form, having played a lot of singles in the run up to this tie. I'm looking forward to seeing his improvement. It's also great to see our younger generation stepping up and being included in the team, with the inclusion of Philip and the next gen players."
South Africa stands to return to Group I should they win this fixture, with an improved chance of then getting into the newly-restructured Davis Cup World Group.
Both Harris and Klaasen are fresh off their respective singles and doubles participation at the US Open, currently taking place at Flushing Meadows in New York, the United States.
Bulgarian captain on Wednesday announced the traveling team that includes Dimitar Kuzmanov, Alexander Lazarov, Alexander Donski, Gabriel Donev, Adrian Andreev
The official draw is set for Thursday, 12 September from 11:00 to 13:00 at Groot Constantia.