Schalk van der Merwe, South African tennis player, Died at 54

  Sports

Schalk van der Merwe was born on April 16, 1961, and died on January 24, 2016.

He was a former professional tennis player from South Africa.

At the 1978 US Open and 1979 Wimbledon Championships Van der Merwe was a quarter-finalist in the juniors events.

His best season was in 1982 on tour.

Schalk entered the quarter-finals in Metz and was a doubles runner-up in the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, partnering Freddie Sauer.

The South African tennis player 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.

During Wimbledon, Schalk started the tournament by defeating Terry Moor and then lost a marathon second round match to Steve Denton.

Schalk match against Denton had to be stopped due to darkness, with the scores level at 10-10 in the fifth set

At the end, Denton finished on top, 13-11.

Schalk did however, make the 3rd round of the mixed doubles, with Yvonne Vermaak as his partner.

During his time in Ireland, where he work as a medical doctor, Van der Merwe was found dead in his car.

Cause of death is unknown.

Schalk van der Merwe passed away at 54 yrs old.