Namibia wins second tie at Davis Cup

Namibia opened its 2014 Davis Cup participation in Egypt with wins by Henco Serdyn and Tuki Jacobs against Botswana on Tuesday. Serdyn and Jacobs are among four Namibian tennis players competing at the Davis Cup in Cairo until Friday. Serdyn won his first match 6-3, 6-3 against Shingirai Muzondiwia from Botswana in a time of one hour and 30 minutes, and Jacobs managed to secure Namibia's second win for the day over Phenyo Matong, also from Botswana. Jacobs lost the first set 7-5, but managed to win the second set 6-2 and the third set 6-0. In the doubles categories, Ben-Piet O’Callaghan and Serdyn defeated Lame Botshoma and Thabiso Mabaka from Botswana by 6-2, 6-1 to take the tie by 3-0 whitewash. The team followed up that success with victory over Benin yesterday, with Serdyn beating Benin’s number-two player Jean Segodo 6-4, 7-6. Jacobs then went on to beat Felix Hounkpevi 7-6, 6-1 to hand Namibia a 2-0 lead in the tie. That result also means that Namibia won the tie even though the doubles were yet to be played by the time of going to press. Team Namibia officials yesterday lauded the performances thus far with the top-ranked Jacobs coming in for special praise. “Tuki is a great all-rounder player. We are happy to have such a great player on the Namibian side,” read an email from the officials. Serdyn, meanwhile, also had a word of praise for the team’s captain. “This was the toughest match I have ever played [but] with the great guidance and exceptional experience of Johan Theron I managed to win the game. Without Johan on the court I would not have been able to pull through,” he said from Egypt. O’Callaghan and Hermann Kuschke were due to play in the doubles game. Namibia is drawn in the African Group III Pool B along with Algeria, Benin and Botswana. Namibia will play Mozambique today, and their final group match will be against Algeria tomorrow. Other African teams at the tournament are Congo, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Zimbabwe. -Additional reporting own reporter. WINDHOEK– NAMPA