Namibia off to winning start 

Namibia got off to a great start at the Davis Cup Africa Group III tournament in Abuja, Nigeria on Tuesday with a 2-1 victory against Ghana.

Namibia’s number two singles player, the 22-year-old Codie van Schalkwyk beat his opposite number from Ghana, Isaac Nortey in straight sets, 6-0, 6-3 to give Namibia a 1-0 lead in the tie. 

Namibia’s number one player and Codie’s 19-year-old brother, Connor, beat Ghana’s number one, Abraham Asaba 6-4, 6-1 to put Namibia in an unbeatable 2-0 lead. 

The Van Schalkwyk brothers then teamed up in the doubles against Asaba and Nortey, and although they lost the match in three sets (6-4, 3-6, 7-5), they still won the tie 2-1 to get their campaign off to a strong start. 

Yesterday, Namibia maintained their winning run with a 3-0 win against the hosts Nigeria. 

Codie van Schalkwyk once again won his opening match in emphatic fashion with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against his opposite number, Wilson Igbinovia.

In the second match Connor van Schalkwyk made a great comeback to beat his opposite number from Nigeria, Christopher Bulus. Bulus won the first set 6-3, but Van Schalkwyk fought back to take a tight second set on a tie-break, 7-6, before winning the third set 6-1.

That gave Namibia an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the tie, but they sealed the encounter in style when Codie van Schalkwyk and Jean Erasmus beat Daniel Adeleye and Michael Emmanuel 7-6, 6-3 in the doubles. 

Four other African nations are competing in the Davis Cup Africa Group III tournament, namely Benin, Nigeria, Zimbabwe and the Ivory Coast, with the top three nations due to be promoted to the Davis Cup World Group II, while the bottom nation will be relegated to Africa Group IV. 

According to the International Tennis Federation world rankings, Namibia are amongst the favourites to gain promotion to the Davis Cup World Group II, as they are currently ranked 78th, which is the second highest of the teams competing in Abuja.

Zimbabwe is just ahead of Namibia at 77th, while the Ivory Coast is ranked 79th, Benin 83rd, Ghana 89th and Nigeria 92nd. However, rankings alone dont determine the outcome of matches and with other factors like climate, home conditions and support playing a role, the Namibian team will have a tough battle on their hands over the next few days. 

If Namibia does gain promotion to the World Group II,they will come up against higher ranked nations like Romania (37th), Ecuador (39), Uzbekistan (42), Bulgaria (44), Pakistan (45) and Latvia (45), as well as their Southern African neighbours, South Africa, who are ranked 54th in the world. 

Meanwhile, one of Namibia’s hottest junior players, Israel Dowie has been in great form at the Austrian Youth Open in Kufstein, where he reached the quarterfinals yesterday. 

Playing in the u14 category, the unseeded Dowie caused a big upset when he beat the second-seeded Ansar Niyetkaliyev of Kazakhstan 6-1, 6-3 in the first round. 

Dowie followed that up with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Filip Schroll of Austria, before beating the 16th seed, Bruno Condorelli of Italy, 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals. Dowie’s next match will be against the 12th seeded Igor Brania of France.