Zim progress in Davis Cup

Sport
Zimbabwe made a step towards making a return to the prestigious Davis Cup World Group with a 2-0 win over Namibia.

Zimbabwe made a step towards making a return to the prestigious Davis Cup World Group with a 2-0 win over Namibia in an Africa Zone Group III playoff semi-final match at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday.

BY MICHAEL MADYIRA

The victory saw Zimbabwe qualifying for the 2015 Euro/Africa Zone Group II which is two tiers below the elite Group.

Benjamin Lock emphatically beat 6-1, 6-0 Jacobus Serdyn, while Takanyi Garanganga overpowered Tuki Jacobs 6-2, 6-2.

With Zimbabwe carrying an unassailable 2-0 lead, the doubles match of Mark Fynn and Lock against the Namibian pair of Serdyn and Jacobs was rendered unnecessary to play.

Zimbabwe’s non-playing captain Martin Dzuwa praised the Zimbabwean team following their performance.

“We performed well in all our matches here,” said Dzuwa. “All the matches were fine for us and we did well considering the tough group we came from. Our main goal was to qualify to the next group and good for us it came out that way.”

Yesterday’s heroics capped a fine outing in Egypt which started from Pool A with a 3-0 win over Congo, followed by that pool’s victories over Madagascar (2-1) and Nigeria (3-0) also coming in convincing fashion.

By qualifying to Euro/Africa Zone Group II, Zimbabwe will now be hosting and visiting the likes of Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Finland, Luxembourg and South Africa.

This group is likely to offer the Zimbabweans the much-needed experience as the fight to surge to the elite Group continues.

The win comes at a time when Old Mutual has breathed life into the team by pumping in the much-needed financial assistance whose sponsorship results were displayed by the team.

This Zimbabwean crop is chasing to reach the World Group played in by Zimbabwean tennis legends Kevin Ullyett, Byron, Wayne and Cara Black.

The Zimbabwean team is expected back home on Monday.

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