Changawa leads Kenya to second win

Kenya's Sheil Kotecha return ball during Britam Tennis tournament at Nairobi club on tuesday, June 27, 2017. [PHOTO: JONAH ONYANGO/STANDARD]

Ismael Changawa steered Kenya to their second victory in the ongoing Davis Cup Africa Zone Group 3 Tennis Championships at the Solaimaneyah Club in Cairo, Egypt, on Tuesday night.

After Sheil Kotecha lost to Algeria's Nazim Makhlouf in the first match, Changawa won the second singles match before joining Ibrahim Kibet for his second victory in the doubles category. They won 2-1.

Changawa, who is Kenya's top ranked player in the tournament, said they were determined to have a good game and were glad with what they achieved.

"It was a very tough match but we played our hearts out because victory in each rubber counts," said Changawa.

"We dropped the first rubber but fought harder to make the best out of the remaining two and I'm glad our efforts paid off."

Changawa said they were expecting a tougher match last night against Benin, who beat them last year.

"We have to keep winning because in the end, the team with the most wins will be promoted and we desire to qualify for Group 2. They beat us last year but we hope to turn the tables and increase our chances of topping our group."

 

First match

The Kenyans won 3-0 in their first Group B match against Botswana on Day One. Kenya's number two Kotecha began well against Makhlouf, winning the first set 6-4.

However, the Algerian returned stronger in the second set, grabbing it on the tiebreak 6-7(11). In the decisive set, Makhlouf gained more confidence, dominating the proceedings before he won 6-1.

In the second rubber, Changawa fought against Mohamed Hassan and secured a straight victory of 6-0, 6-3 to restore parity. Changawa then paired up with Kibet and won 6-4, 7-5 against Algeria's duo of Makhlouf and Hichem Yasri.

In Group A, favourites Egypt and Zimbabwe won their opening matches against Nigeria and Rwanda. Egypt was set to play Rwanda and Zimbabwe was scheduled to play Nigeria. In Group B, winless Algeria and Libya were also set to face off yesterday evening.