Schalk van der Merwe (16 April 1961 – 24 January 2016) was a professional tennis player from South Africa.
His best performance in a Grand Slam tournament was a third-round appearance at the
1982 US Open, where he had wins over
Derek Tarr
Derek John Tarr (born September 15, 1959) is a former American professional tennis player, originally from South Africa.
Career
While at Auburn University, Tarr played tennis in the Southeastern Conference and was the singles champion in 1981. I ...
and
Raúl Ramírez
Raúl Ramírez (born 20 June 1953) is a Mexican retired professional tennis player. He was active during the 1970s and 1980s. Ramírez was the first player to finish first in both singles and doubles Grand Prix point standings, accomplishing th ...
. In the second round of the
1982 Wimbledon Championships
The 1982 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. The tournament ran from 21 June until 4 July. It was the 96th staging of t ...
, van der Merwe lost a marathon match to
Steve Denton
Steve Denton (born September 5, 1956) is a former professional tennis player for the ATP Tour. He is currently the head men's tennis coach at Texas A&M University.
After becoming an all-American at the University of Texas in 1978, Denton spent ...
, which had to be stopped due to darkness when the scores were level at 10–10 in the fifth set. Play resumed the following day, and Denton won 13–11.
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, but he apparently suffered from high blood pressure in the time preceding his death.
Career finals
Doubles: 1 (0–1)
Challenger titles
Doubles: (1)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Der Merwe, Schalk
1961 births
2016 deaths
Afrikaner people
South African people of Dutch descent
South African male tennis players
People from Robertson, Western Cape
Sportspeople from the Western Cape