Nigeria opened their Davis Cup Africa Group III qualifying campaign in Harare, Zimbabwe, on a winning note, rallying from behind to edge Algeria 2-1 in their first match of the tournament on Wednesday.
The Nigerian side did not begin well, as Michael Emmanuel lost the first singles rubber 6-1, 6-0 against Algeria’s Toufik Sahtali as the North Africans led 1-0. US-based Nigerian tennis star Christopher Bulus began the comeback when he took on Samir Hamza in the second singles rubber between the countries.
Bulus edged the first set 7-6 via a tiebreaker, before going on to lose the second set 4-6 to his stubborn opponent, having managed to come from 4-1 down. However, in the deciding set, he cruised to a 6-4 triumph to level the scores at 1-1.
In the doubles rubber, the duo of Daniel Adeleye and Bulus began the tie by racing into a commanding 3-1 lead, on their way to clinching the 6-4. The Algerians, led by Sahtali and Hamza, recovered in the second set and put up a dogged display as they won 7-6 on a tiebreaker.
The final set saw the West Africans break the Algerians to take a comfortable 4-2 lead, and they held their next serve to extend the lead to 5-2. Sahtali and Hamza soon made it 5-3, before the Nigerian duo sealed the set and the contest 6-3.
Day two action will continue on Thursday (today) at the Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifying tournament, as Nigeria resumes the chase to secure promotion to the World Group II Playoffs.
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