Zimbabwe got off their Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Africa Zone Group III campaign to a worst possible start after suffering a crushing 3-0 loss to hosts Tunisia in their opening Pool A match at the Cité Nationale Sportive d’El in the Tunisian capital on Monday night.
The depleted side, which is missing the services of number one player Takanyi Garanganga, faces an uphill task in their quest to secure promotion to the Euro/Africa Zone Group II.
Benjamin Lock and Mark Fynn lost both their singles matches in straight sets before the former combined with debutant Tendai Tapfuma in the doubles match which Zimbabwe again lost. To stay alive in the competition, Zimbabwe now need to win all their remaining matches against Ghana and Namibia.
According to reports from Tunisia in the first singles match on Monday, Mohamed Abid got the ball rolling for Tunisia, overcoming Lock 6-3, 6-3, which paved the way for his compatriot Slim Hamza to seal the tie by defeating Fynn 6-2, 6-1 in just 57 minutes.
Hamza then teamed up with Anis Ghorbel to cap an excellent day for the home team, winning the doubles rubber 6-3,6-2 against Lock and Tapfuma to complete the whitewash victory.
The result thrust Tunisia in the driving seat in their round-robin group after the other Pool A tie saw Namibia triumph 2-1 over Ghana, courtesy of a vital doubles win for Tukhula Jacobs and Jean Erasmus.
Zimbabwe and Ghana, the only teams in the group yet to register a win in the tournament, were scheduled to meet last night.
The Africa Zone Group III event was scheduled to have nine teams, but the late withdrawal of Nigeria caused the format to be changed slightly and, in turn, the schedule has also been amended.
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The round-robin ties will run until today before the teams have a rest tomorrow.
The play-offs will be held on the last day of competition on Friday.
The promotion play-offs see the winner of Pool A face the runner-up of Pool B, and vice versa, with the two prevailing nations taking their place in Europe/Africa Zone Group II next season.
