Kenya beat Algeria, take control of Davis Cup group

What you need to know:

  • The win moved Kenya top of Pool B after two wins on the second day of competition which has attracted 10 nations divided into two pools.
  • Kenya beat Botswana 3-0 in their opening match on Monday.

Kenya beat Algeria 2-1 on Tuesday night to secure her second win at the ongoing Davis Cup Africa Zone Three Tennis Championship at the Solaimaneyah Club in Cairo.

The win moved Kenya top of Pool B after two wins on the second day of competition which has attracted 10 nations divided into two pools.

Kenya beat Botswana 3-0 in their opening match on Monday.

The Kenyan team comprising of Sheil Kotecha, Ismail Changawa and Ibrahim Kibet had to be at their best, rallying from losing the opening rubber to win the second singles match and the decisive doubles match to secure the hard-fought victory after five hours.

Kotecha was first up on court against Nazim Makhlouf in the opening rubber looking to get his colleagues off to a good start. He had an impressive first set winning 6-4 against his North African opponent.

However, Makhlouf fought back in a breathtaking second set that headed to a tie break to take it 7-6(11) to force a deciding set. Kotecha appeared to have suffered from the effects of the long second set as he lost 1-6 in the third set handing Algeria a 1-0 lead.

Changawa stepped up in the second rubber against the big serving Mohamed Hassan. Changawa showed why he is Kenya's topped ranked player winning the contest 6-0, 6-3 to level the match ahead of the doubles decider.

The US-based Changawa teamed up with Kibet and the duo kept their cool to win 6-4, 7-5 against Makhlouf and Hichem Yasri.

An elated Changawa was pleased with the result especially after losing the opening contest which put pressure on the team.

“Two wins in a row is a fantastic feat. We need to maintain the performance. The fighting spirit was immense and it gives us confidence of going all the way,” he told Nation Sport via phone.

"The disappointment of last year is what is keeping us going and so far all is going according to plan," he added.

Kenya were due to play Benin in their third match last night. Benin beat Kenya at last year's competition in Madagascar. The West African nation beat Libya 3-0 in their first match.

In other results , Botswana beat Libya 2-1 to bounce back from their defeat to Kenya.

In Pool A, Zimbabwe beat Rwanda 3-0 as Egypt overcame Nigeria by the same scoreline.

The winners of the two groups will be promoted to Group 2 of the World Cup of Tennis.

They will also face off in a final to determine the winner of the competition which ends on July 22. Kenya is taking part in the competition for the fourth time. Last year, the country finished third in its group missing out on promotion.