US-based Nigerian tennis star player, Christopher Bulus. led what was an incredible comeback for Team Nigeria at the ongoing Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifier in Zimbabwe.
Nigeria’s Michael Emmanuel lost the first rubber against Algeria’s Toufik Sahtali in a match which ended 6-1, 6-0 in favour of the North Africans but Bulus brought the match back to a tie with an incredible win on Wednesday afternoon.
The ATP 1110 player, playing against Samir Hamza (ATP 701), took a nervy first et 7-6 (3) to set up a cushion for the Nigerian against their opponent who was playing to avoid a consecutive defeat after taking the lead at this year’s event.
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The experienced tour-level player fought back with a win of his own in the second set to dominate the game 4-1, but Nigeria’s Bulus fought assiduously to peg the game to 4-4 but could not go any further as he lost the set 4-6.
In the final set, the rejuvenated Nigerian tennis sensation dug deep and found a winning formula, as he took out the unyielding Algerian with the first match point he had, to win 6-4 and tie the match for Nigeria against the least ranked nation in the Africa Group III Qualifiers.
The Doubles match started almost like the second Singles tie ended, with Nigeria boasting a proper dominance over their opponents.
The Nigerian pair of Daniel Adeleye and Bulus started the tie by storming to a 3-1 lead after breaking their opponent, en route to winning 6-4 in the first set, but it was in the second set that the Algerian pair of Sahtali and Hamza woke up as they went toe to toe against the Nigerians.
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Despite taking a healthy 3-2 lead after breaking the Algerians again, the Nigerian players could not sustain the momentum, as they allowed their opponent take the initiative, as they broke twice to take a comfortable 4-3 lead.
However, the Nigerian pair of Bulus and Adeleye fought back to ensure they were not beaten head on and dragged the game to a tiebreak which the Algerians eventually won 7-1.
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The final set began with both teams holding serve one after the other, as none could break the other, but it was the Nigerian side that broke to take a cushioned 4-2 lead and held serve to take the game to 5-2.
The Algerians held serve and gave themselves a lifeline in the matchup, but it was the Nigerians who held serve and ended the match with a 6-3 win in the final set to start their Davis Cup Africa Group III Qualifying campaign on a winning note.
Nigeria Tennis Live will keep all our readers posted on the latest developments from the competition as the team progresses in Harare, Zimbabwe.
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