Egypt and Tunisia have gone to the Davis Cup's Europe/Africa Zone Group II to be played in 2016. Egypt beat Namibia 2-0 and Tunisia defeated Benin 2-0 in the playoff. Held at the Smash Tennis Academy in Cairo from 26-29 October, the tournament had eight countries divided into two round-robin pools. Pool A was Algeria, Namibia, Ghana and Tunisia while Pool B included Benin, Egypt, Mozambique and Libya. The Egyptian team consisted of Mohamed Safwat, Karim Maamoun, Sherif Sabri and Karim Hossam. “Now that Egypt and Tunisia were promoted next year to Group II, the draw will be held on Tuesday at the headquarters of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) at 10am,” president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation (ETF) Israa Al-Sanhouri said. “It will decide which team we are going to play against and where. “The Egyptian team performed at the same level of the tournament, however, they have to work harder because in the Europe/Africa Zone Group II the competition will be much harder.” Al-Sanhouri said captain of the team Mohamed Mamoun had become the new coach for the first time. “He was a former tennis player and has very good experience as a Davis Cup player. He is not too old; his age is close to that of the players. There is mutual understanding and harmony between him and them.” Juniors Youssef Hossam and Akram Al-Sallali will be substitute players in case any of the major players are injured. “Our players asked for a certain preparatory plan and to compete in specific championships. ETF is working with them on it. They promised to be in presentable form in Group II. The first championship in 2016 will in fact be the Davis Cup, in mid-March,” added Al-Sanhouri. The first day was a good start for Egypt. In the Pool B round robin, Egypt beat Mozambique 3-0. Maamoun defeated Mozambique's Franco Mata 6-1, 6-1. In the doubles, Sherif Sabri and Maamoun teamed up to defeat Mozambique's Mata and Hugo Moreira 6-4, 6-0. On the second day, Egypt defeated Libya 3-0. Hossam defeated Aous Almabrok 6-1, 6-0. In doubles, Hossam and Sabri teamed up to beat Mohamed Al-Feetouri and Mohamed El-Jamal 6-2, 6-0. On day three, Egypt beat Benin 2-1. Maamoun beat Theophile Segodo 6-0, 6-2. In the reverse match, Benin's Alexis Klegou beat Safwat 3-6, 6-3, 5-7 but the doubles duo of Safwat and Sabri defeated Benin's Felix Hounkpevi and Klegou 6-2, 6-2 in the decider. On the fourth day, Egypt defeated Namibia 2-0. Sabri beat Gideon Van Dyk 6-4, 6-1. In the second singles, Safwat beat Tuki Jacobs 6-4, 6-4. In the first to fourth play-off spot, Tunisia beat Benin 2-0 and Egypt beat Namibia 2-0. In the fifth to eighth play-off, Algeria defeated Mozambique 2-1 and Ghana defeated Libya 2-1. Namibia tied for fourth place while Algeria tied for sixth. Benin and Mozambique will compete in 2016 in zone Group III for the second consecutive year. Ghana and Libya will also compete in Group III next year.
