Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE kept their Davis Cup promotion hopes alive with a 2-1 win over the Democratic Republic of Congo in Africa Group IV in Nairobi yesterday.
Courtney Lock and Ronan Mtisi won their singles rubbers to give Zimbabwe an unassailable 2-0 lead.
Zamani Moyo and Makanaka Whata then lost the doubles 6-4, 2-6, 2-6.
Lock beat Arnold Ikondo Moke 6-3, 6-2 in one hour and 47 minutes, while Mtisi defeated Isaac Bokungu 6-2, 6-3 earlier in the day.
The win follows Zimbabwe’s 3-0 victory over Mozambique on Tuesday.
They now face Angola today in their final Pool B group match.
Eight nations are competing in Kenya for two promotion places to Africa Group III next year.
The top two teams from Pool A and Pool B advance to Saturday’s play-offs.
Pool A consists of Ghana, Algeria, Kenya, and Botswana. Pool B has Mozambique, DR Congo, Angola and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe are seeking a return to Group III after relegation last year when they lost all four ties against Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria and Namibia in Harare.
Only Lock and Mtisi remain from that squad.
Lock said emotion drove his performance against Moke.
“It’s this emotion that pretty much summarises the current state of Zimbabwe tennis,” he said.
In the doubles, Moyo and Whata took the first set 6-4 but could not hold off Bokungu and Moise Kumase, who won the next two sets 6-2, 6-2.
And in the absence of his older brother, Benjamin, Courtney Lock seems to have carried a huge chunk of that weight on his shoulders.
Zimbabwe were demoted to the Africa Group IV after crumbling to four straight defeats against Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria and Namibia during the five-nation Africa Group III tournament last year.
The event was held at Harare Sports Club, and Courtney is one of two survivors from that tournament alongside Mtisi.
While his singles match yesterday against Moke was pretty much a one-sided affair, Lock played the match with a lot of emotion.
The tie itself did not get off to the best of starts for the Zimbabwean as Lock and Moke exchanged breaks during the first two matches of the tie.
After he regrouped, the 29-year-old Zimbabwe top seed totally dominated his opponents, winning a collecting 65 points as compared to Bokungu’s 48.
He made just three aces while operating at 78 percent on first serve and 77 percent on the second.
Lock successfully converted four out of a possible six break points during his win over the DR Congo player, with the match lasting one hour and 47 minutes.
The doubles match remains the only blemish from an otherwise good day in the office for Gwinyai Tongoona’s charges.
Moyo and Whata’s raced through the opening set of their doubles tie, which they took 6-4.
Unfortunately, the DR Congo would hit back and do so emphatically. Bokungu and Kumase took the second and deciding third with identical 6-2 wins.
They won 85 points in total as compared to Whata and Moyo’s 63, claiming a total of five out of 13 possible break points.
Whata and Moyo could only break their opponents twice out of a possible four.
