Height 1.84 m Plays Right-handed Wimbledon 2R (1982) Weight 105 kg | Career record 10–20 Name Schalk der Date joined 2014 Career titles 0 Role Rugby Player | |
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Born 16 April 1961RobertsonSouth Africa ( 1961-04-16 ) School Grey College, Bloemfontein | ||
Highest ranking No. 157 (3 Jan 1983) | ||
Schalk van der merwe
Schalk van der Merwe (16 April 1961 – 24 January 2016) was a former professional tennis player from South Africa.
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Schalk van der merwe thundering tackle on kyle nichols
Career
Van der Merwe was a quarterfinalist in the juniors events at the 1978 US Open and 1979 Wimbledon Championships.
In 1982, van der Merwe had his best season on tour. He reached the quarter-finals in Metz and was a doubles runner-up in the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, partnering Freddie Sauer. The South African made it to the third round in the 1982 US Open, with wins over Derek Tarr and Raúl Ramírez, before losing to Bob Lutz in four sets. In Wimbledon he started the tournament by defeating Terry Moor and then lost a marathon second round match to Steve Denton. His match against Denton had to be stopped due to darkness, with the scores level at 10-10 in the fifth set. When play resumed the following day, Denton finished on top, 13-11. He did however make the third round of the mixed doubles, with Yvonne Vermaak as his partner.
Death
While in Ireland, where he was working as a medical doctor, Van der Merwe was found dead in his car. The cause of death is still unknown, although he had apparently suffered from high blood pressure in the time preceding his death.