Kenya thrash Uganda in Davis Cup opener
Kenya's Ismael Changawa plays a forehand shot against Uganda's Boris Aguma during their Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Tennis Championship match on June 18, 2018 at the Nairobi Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO |
What you need to know:
- Changawa, who is captain of the five-man Kenyan team, had an easy time against Aguma with his high backhand, and finished off the victory in an hour and a half.
- The onus of opening the tournament however landed on Kotecha, who had a shaky start, but recovered in the second set to eliminate the threatening Oringa.
- Kotecha narrowly won the first set, but had to fight all the way to the tie-breaker in the second set with Oringa almost erasing a 5-4 deficit.
Hosts Kenya Monday recorded a convincing 3-0 win over Uganda as the Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Tennis Championship served off at the Nairobi Club.
Kenyan top seed Ismail Changawa beat his Ugandan counterpart Boris Aguma 6-2, 6-1 in the second rubber played at the main court to complement second seed Sheil Kotecha’s 6-4, 7-6 (4) win over David Oringa in the first rubber.
Siblings Kevin Cheruiyot and Ibrahim Kibet completed the sweep as they edged out the pair of Simon Ayella and Frank Tayebwa 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles encounter.
In the other match, Namibia collected an easy 3-0 win over Algeria in pool A.
Kenya's Sheil Kotecha plays a forehand shot against Uganda's David Oringa during their Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Tennis Championship match on June 18, 2018 at the Nairobi Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Changawa, who is captain of the five-man Kenyan team, had an easy time against Aguma with his high backhand, and finished off the victory in an hour and a half.
The onus of opening the tournament however landed on Kotecha, who had a shaky start, but recovered in the second set to eliminate the threatening Oringa.
Kotecha narrowly won the first set, but had to fight all the way to the tie-breaker in the second set with Oringa almost erasing a 5-4 deficit.
The Kenyan second seed, who played his last major competition last month at the ITF Futures in Uganda, capitalised on Oringa’s poor serve to cap off the victory.
Kenya coach Rosemary Owino (right) speaks to Ismail Changawa during the Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Tennis Championship match on June 18, 2018 at the Nairobi Club. Chris Omollo | Nation Media Group
“The first match is always pretty tough, but I am glad I pulled through. The first set was particularly difficult, and I was also scared because I lost to Oringa the last time we played. But I appreciate the support of my team mates and my fans. They kept me going,” Kotecha said after the match.
Kenya are placed in a tough Pool B alongside Mozambique, Uganda and third seeds Algeria and Namibia, and will face Mozambique Tuesday morning in their next match.
Sports PS Kirimi Kaberia plays a forehand shot during the Davis Cup Africa Zone Group III Tennis Championship match on June 18, 2018 at the Nairobi Club. PHOTO | CHRIS OMOLLO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Kenya is placed 86th in Davis Cup ranking and reached the semi-finals last year in Egypt alongside Benin. Kenya however narrowly missed out on promotion to Euro/Africa David Cup Group II after falling to Zimbabwe 2-0 in Africa Zone Group III play-off.
This is the first time Kenya is hosting the Davis Cup since 2002 in Mombasa where the hosts featured in Group II.
Kenya, who first played Davis Cup in 1974, staged its best performance to reach the Europe/Africa Zone Group I semi-finals in 1992, hence missing to qualify for the World Group.
