TENNIS NEWS - The South African KIA Davis Cup team won their Europe/Africa Group II tie against Bulgaria after Lloyd Harris' singles win at Kelvin Grove Club, Newlands, on Saturday.
Harris, the SA No 1, defeated his Bulgaria counterpart Dimitar Kuzmanov 6-3 7-6 (3) in Saturday's first reverse singles rubber and that gave South Africa an unassailable 3-1 lead, with one singles match remaining in the tie.
It was the second successive triumph for the hosts on Saturday after Raven Klaasen and Ruan Roelofse won the doubles contest for a 2-1 overall lead. Klaasen and Roelofse defeated Alexander Donski and Alexandar Lazarov their 6-3 6-2.
South Africa, the second seeds in the Europe/Africa Group II have a Davis Cup ranking of 44. Bulgaria is unseeded and ranked 64 on the Davis Cup ladder.
Klassen said that doubles contest proved to be a turning point in the tie and was far more intense than what it seemed.
"We were playing in front of a huge crowd and we knew the expectation. We needed to produce a sound performance and that creates pressure. When the score goes with serve, there other pressures come to fore and you have to deal with it.
