South Africa were left with plenty of work to do on the second day of their Davis Cup World Group II playoff against Luxembourg in Esch-sur-Alzette after losing both singles rubbers on Saturday's opening day of competition.
In the first match, Alec Beckley got his Davis Cup debut off to a promising start, winning the first set against Luxembourg's top-ranked player Alex Knaff.
Beckley lost control, however, and eventually went down in a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 defeat.
In the second singles contest, Kris van Wyk (also making his Davis Cup debut) put up a fight but was unable to get on top of his opponent as the SA team's No 1 fell in a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Chris Rodesch.
South Africa will have a chance to claw their way back on Sunday, but they will have to win all three remaining matches to secure victory and remain in the World Group II division of the international team competition.
Experienced player Raven Klaasen will pair up with Beckley for the doubles rubber against Knaff and Rodesch.
In the return singles matches, Van Wyk is scheduled to face Knaff and Beckley is up against Rodesch.