The Zimbabwe Davis Cup will be looking to upset Tunisia and move closer to a return to World Group I when the national clash in a Group II Knockouts tie in Tunis next weekend.
This is the first time that the local team will be competing in Davis Cup since beating Syria 3 – 1 at Harare Sports Club early last year.
The Zimbabwe team comprises Benjamin Lock who is the number one player, Courtney Lock, Mehluli Sibanda and newcomer Thabo Ncube.
Gwinyai Tongoona remains the non-playing captain while senior player Takanyi Garanganga will miss the trip to North Africa.
Zimbabwe was supposed to have hosted China in September last year but the games were postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
China eventually withdrew from the competition and Zimbabwe received a bye to this stage of the competition.
“Tunisia has a stronger team than us on paper but we are ready for the challenge. It will be an uphill battle for us. And to move up to Group 1 will be big for both teams,” Tongoona told Zim Sport Live in an interview.
“We are going there to fight for the win and take Zim up to group one. We have done well over the last couple of years to be in this position so we need to keep on fighting,” he added.
Tunisia are the second-best ranked African nation in Davis in 56th place behind South Africa in position 52 while Zimbabwe are ranked 63rd.
Two other African countries Egypt (59) and Morocco have a better Davis Cup ranking than Zimbabwe.
The winner will advance to the 2022 World Group I Play-offs while losing nations will compete in the World Group II Play-offs.