Schalk van der Merwe


Schalk van der Merwe was a professional tennis player from South Africa.

Career

Van der Merwe was a junior quarterfinalist at the 1978 US Open and 1979 Wimbledon Championships.
At the 1982 Wimbledon Championships, van der Merwe lost a marathon second round match to Steve Denton, 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 finished on top, 13–11.
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 and Raúl Ramírez.

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.

Career finals

Doubles: 1 (0–1)

Challenger titles

Doubles: (1)