Kevin Cheruiyot and Ibrahim Kibet have joined Kenya’s top seed Ishmael Changawa in the team that will represent the country at the Davis Cup Group Three set for Antananarivo, Madagascar from July 13-16.
Cheruiyot and Kibet finished first and second respectively in the national trials that attracted four players at the Nairobi Club over the weekend .
The event played on a round robin show saw Cheruiyot win all his duels, beating Kibet in straight sets of 6-4 and 6-3 in his last match yesterday. He had earlier on clobbered Ronny Ndinya (6-4, 6-2) and Petty Andanda 7-5, 6-2 to collect maximum points. Cheruiyot said work has just started.
“The tournament was good; I gave my all and I’m glad I made the cut for Davis Cup. We are going to meet the best players in Africa thus we have to sharpen our skills and techniques in order to be tougher and prevail,” he noted.
Kibet clubbed Ndinya and Andanda to book a berth to the continental bonanza. He beat Ndinya 2-0 (7-5, 6-2) and Andanda 5-7, 6-4 and 6-1 to seal a place in the Antananarivo University-hosted event. In a losers’ battle, Ndinya braved a stubborn Andanda to beat him 6-3, 4-6,6-4 to settle for the third place while the latter finished last, having lost all his three games.
Meanwhile, tennis ace Changawa arrives in the country today to join Cheruiyot and Kibet in training ahead of tournament. An on-form Changawa, who is currently playing college tennis for Seminole State College in Oklahoma, USA got a bye to represent Kenya in Madagascar.