Kenya secure Davis Cup Group IV victory

Kenya secured their place in 2026 Davis Cup Africa Group IV for another year after defeating Mozambique 3-0 in the relegation playoff on the final day of the tournament in Nairobi today.

Facing the prospect of dropping to Group V, the hosts produced a composed performance to finish the competition on a high and preserve their status in the continental competition.

Making his Davis Cup debut, Liberty Kibue gave Kenya the perfect start with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory over Rui Costa Tembe in the opening singles match.

“At first there was pressure, honestly, because today was a must-win match,” said Kibue, “but I came with a positive mindset. I wanted to play my best and enjoy myself. That’s what my coaches told me, to have fun and enjoy the moment.”

Kael Shah then sealed the tie for Kenya with a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 win over Luca Santiago De Sousa Figueiredo, ensuring the hosts would remain in Group IV regardless of the double’s outcome.

The pair of Zayyan Virani and Kibue completed a clean sweep with a 6-4, 7-6(3) victory over Figueiredo and Eric Patrick Sigauque in the doubles match.

The result means Kenya and Botswana retain their places in Group IV for the 2027 season, while Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo are relegated to Group V.

At the top of the standings, Ghana and Algeria secured promotion to Africa Group III after successful campaigns in Nairobi. Angola and Zimbabwe, who narrowly missed out in the promotion playoffs, will remain in Group IV alongside Kenya and Botswana next year.

Ghana’s Abraham Asaba credited resilience for his team’s promotion campaign after recovering from a difficult start to the tournament.

“A lot of people didn’t think we would make it, but we never doubted ourselves. We had faith and came out every day and played one point at a time,” said Asaba.

The Ghanaian added that his team would begin preparations immediately as they target further progress towards Group II.

For Kenya, the tournament offered valuable lessons for one of the youngest squads in the competition. While promotion hopes ended with a defeat to Ghana on Day 3, the team leaves the tournament having secured its Group IV status and gained crucial international experience.

“It was a great experience. Not the way we wanted to end and not our expectations for this year’s Davis Cup, but we get to stay in Group IV and not move down to Group V,” said Shah.

“We’re a young team. We’ve taken a lot of positives from this week and hopefully next year we can improve and get promoted to Group III.”

With survival secured and a promising group of young players continuing to develop, Kenya’s attention now turns to building on this years’ experience and mounting a stronger challenge for promotion in 2027.