Matong to lead Botswana's Davis Cup team

Botswana's four-member team left the country on Sunday and will fight to earn the country promotion to Group II.Matong, Shingirayi Muzondiwa, Innocent Tidimane and Aobakwe Lekang make up the team. The tournament runs from May 13 to 18 at the Smash Tennis Academy, in Egypt's capital. The venue is an outdoor clay surface.

The tournament will be played on round-robin basis with the fourteen participating nations placed in four pools.Top nations in pools A and B will then play off against top nations in pools C and D, with two winning nations promoted to Europe/Africa Zone Group II for 2014.

Botswana Tennis Association (BTA) president Nelson Amanze said they were taking the tournament seriously as they aim at gaining promotion to Group II.'It's the highest team competition in the world and measures the level of development in each participating country,' Amanze told Mmegi Sport, adding they were hopeful of promotion.  27-year-old Matong will spearhead the country's campaign with his experience. Since returning to the country from the US, he has played in a couple of regional tournaments including the Maputo Open.He has played in 18 Davis Cup ties before since his debut appearance in 2003. Muzondiwa first played in the prestigious tournament in 2009 and has featured in eight ties to date.Botswana finished tied 11th in Africa Zone Group III in the last event played in Morocco. The hosts Egypt were relegated to Africa Zone Group III for this year's event.

Egypt first played Davis Cup in 1929. Its best performance has been reaching the Europe/Africa Zone Group I semifinals, which it achieved in 1982 and 1985.The Davis Cup began in 1900 as a competition between USA and Great Britain. It is now the world's largest annual international team competition in sport, with 130 nations entering in 2013.

Botswana made its Davis Cup debut in 1996 but is yet to progress past Europe/Africa Zone Group III.Meanwhile, BTA will send an eight-member Under 14 team to Potchefstroom, South Africa later this week.Amanze confirmed that the team comprised of both boys and girls will leave the country on Thursday.

'It's a development tournament and we have identified players we feel we need to focus on in terms of giving them exposure by getting them to play international tournaments. The tournament runs from Thursday and will end on Sunday.