Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
EVERYTHING that could have gone wrong seems to have done so for Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup tennis team.
After three rounds of matches, the hosts are yet to win a single match or set and have now face the prospect of playing in the Davis Cup Africa Group VI next year.
Their top singles players, Mehluli Sibanda and Courtney Lock, have faced injury concerns, at one time or another, during the ongoing Davis Cup Africa Group III tournament at Harare Sports Club.
The latest setback occurred during yesterday’s tie where the hosts lost 3-0 to Nigeria, a result that all but confirmed their drop to the less fashionable group, with one round of matches to go.
Zimbabwe will this morning wrap up their participation with a tie against Namibia, ironically, the only nation ranked above them in the tournament.
The hosts lost both their singles matches with Sibanda going down 6-4, 6-4 to Nigeria’s Daniel Adeleye, in a valiant effort that saw the country’s top seed play through the pain after incurring a shoulder injury early in the first set.
Lock did not fare any better as he also went down 6-3, 6-3 to Christopher Bulus.
Ethan, the younger of the Sibanda brothers, then teamed up with Lock with the pair going down 6-3, 6-1 to Adeleye and Bulus in the doubles.
Zimbabwe have now lost by identical 3-0 scores to Senegal, Algeria and yesterday Nigeria, leaving the hosts as the only team yet to register a win in the tournament.
Relegation is imminent!
The tournament currently features five teams — namely Algeria, Namibia, Senegal, Nigeria and Zimbabwe — and is being played under a round robin format.
The top three teams will get promoted to next year’s World Group II while the bottom two teams get relegated to the Africa Group IV.
The defeat to Nigeria was a truly humbling experience for Courtney Lock, who stressed the importance of his older brother Benjamin to the team.
Benjamin Lock has missed Zimbabwe’s Davis Cup assignments this year as he is battling a shoulder injury and his absence has really exposed lack of depth within the team.
“Yeah, not great,” said Courtney.
“Credit to Nigeria, they played very well, but I think this week has just showed how much we have missed Benji (Lock) and how important he is to the team.
“The whole team moves one spot down when Benji’s playing.
“We are always favoured in doubles when I’m playing with Benji and have only lost one doubles match in the time we have played in group three,” he said.
He also expressed disappointment with their imminent relegation.
“I have never stayed in group three.
“I have played Davis Cup for 12 years and we have always been promoted back to group two.
“It’s a tough thing to accept,” he said.
Sibanda was more receptive to the reality saying; “It is what it is.
“We just have to pick ourselves up, fight for promotion next year and get back on track’’.
Mehluli Sibanda remains a doubt for the match against Namibia today with a decision likely to be made on the 11th hour.
“Yeah, so at about 4-3 in the first set, when I hit the serve, I felt like a twitch in my shoulder,” said Sibanda.
“I kept on hitting it and the pain just kept getting worse, worse, the pain.
“I was feeling more and more pain as the match went.
“So now, I just want to be careful with it and see how I feel in the morning (today).
“I’m going to try and practice, then see if I can play,” he said.
