Davis Cup: South Africa and Montenegro level after day one of crunch Centurion playoff

South Africa’s Davis Cup World Group II play-off tie against Montenegro is evenly poised following Saturday’s singles rubbers at Irene Country Club in Centurion. The visitors fought back after SA No 1 Philip Henning secured the opening match 6-4 6-2 against Montenegro’s No 2, Aleksa Krivokapic..

Montenegro’s top seed, Petar Jovanovic, then got the better of Alec Beckley in a gruelling three-set battle in the Pretoria heat to level the tie at 1-1, ahead of Sunday's doubles and reverse singles rubbers.

Davis Cup veteran Henning, who missed the SA team's previous tie against Morocco through injury, possessed too much firepower for his lower-ranked opponent. He sailed through the first set before breaking early in the second on his way to a comfortable victory for captain Pietie Norval's team on the Centurion hard courts.

The South African secured his ninth singles Davis Cup win with a clinical performance. Henning served at 82% and dropped a mere five points on his own serve, conceding only one break in 57 minutes on court.

He dominated early in the second set, rattling off 16 of the opening 17 points to race into a 4-0 lead. Although Krivokapic pulled a break back in the sixth game to reduce the gap to 4-2, Henning recovered instantly, breaking again in the seventh game before holding to love to seal the match.

Beckley, who featured in the 4-1 defeat against Morocco, initially struggled to find his rhythm against Jovanovic, who claimed the first set 6-3. The South African staged a spirited comeback in the second, buoyed by a vocal crowd at the sold-out venue.

The final set was a see-saw battle, but Jovanovic secured the decisive break in the sixth game to pull 4-2 clear. He held his nerve to level the tie for Rrezart Cungu’s young side, which is largely comprised of US college players.

Jovanovic led the ace count 7-1 and won 83% of points on his first serve. He was also the more clinical on the big points, converting three of seven break points, while Beckley managed only one from four.

Thando Longwe-Smit and Kris van Wyk are scheduled to face Krivokapic and Jovanovic in the doubles match preceding Sunday’s reverse singles, though Norval may yet shuffle his pairings.

South Africa must defeat Montenegro to retain their place in World Group II.