Nigeria triumphed 3-0 over Côte d’Ivoire in their third match at the ongoing 2024 Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifier, in Abuja, after suffering a dismal 0-3 loss to Namibia on Wednesday.
The win boosted Nigerians chances of securing promotion as the team now has five wins from nine matches.
Still shaking from his victory over Courtney Lock of Benjamin on the first day, Michael Emmanuel opened the floodgates of victory for Nigeria by thrashing rookie Francky Hoimian Martial in two straight sets.
The Nigerian player won the match 6-1, 6-3 in-spite a late attempt at a fight back by the Ivorian player.
In the second rubber, Christopher Bulus, still hurt by losing the third set to Connor Van Schalkwyk of Namibia on Wednesday, made up for it with a near-perfect 6-0, 6-1 victory over Frederick Coulibaly of Côte d’Ivoire.
Bulus later partner with Daniel Adeleye to outlast the Ivorian pair of Hoimian and Coulibaly in a 6-2, 7-6(2) win to ensure Nigeria finished the day with a perfect 3-0 record.
Nigeria will now face Benin Republic in their next match on Friday, where a win will strengthen their chances of reaching the promotion zone.
Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, both of whom are without any win , will come up against each other. while the top two teams, Namibia and Zimbabwe will go head-to-head on Friday.
Other matches played saw Nambia beat Benin Republic 3-0 and Zimbabwe beat Ghana 2-1.
All six teams are competing for three promotional tickets to World Group II. While two teams will be relegated to Africa Group IV, one group will remain in Group III after the round of matches.
The tournament started from 15 July and will end on 20 July at the Moshood Abiola National stadium in Abuja.
