Coetzee, Moodie in year-end Masters Finals

With a remarkable storybook triumph, Jeff Coetzee and Wesley Moodie became the first South African pair to qualify for the year-end Masters Finals in eight years when they beat the Polish combination of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 6-4 6-3 in the Paris Masters semifinals on Saturday.

The victory enabled Moodie and Coetzee to snatch the eighth final qualifying place for the prestigious Shanghai event and also reach their first Masters final—where they will face the formidable pairing of Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett.

After aggravating a knee injury at Wimbledon in July, Moodie was sidelined from tennis for three months after missing the Olympic Games and the US Open—and any thoughts of qualifying for the Masters Finals appeared to have evaporated in the midst of the untimely setback.

However, the South African Davis Cup pair, who had only played together on a handful of occasions before this year, have staged a stunning comeback in the past four weeks while making up lost ground by reaching three ATP semifinals.—Sapa