They were made to work hard for it, but South Africa took another step forward on Thursday, winning their second straight tie on day two of the Davis Cup Africa Group III tournament being played at Tuks Tennis, University of Pretoria.
Having defeated Algeria the day before, the SA team emerged triumphant once again from their clash against Ivory Coast.
Devin Badenhorst beat Frederic Coulibaly 6-1 6-3, and while Philip Henning was edged in a 6-2 0-6 4-6 defeat to highly rated Ivorian player Eliakim Coulibaly, Henning then paired up with Christiaan Worst to bag a 6-4 6-2 doubles victory over Eliakim Coulibaly and Alex Lago.
Despite losing his singles match against Coulibaly, who is more than 900 places higher than the South African in the ATP rankings, Henning was delighted with the national team's result.
"It was a good day for Team South Africa. It started out with Devin, who played really well and served very well, giving us the lead," Henning said at the end of the contest.
"Unfortunately, I lost 6-4 in the third, but it was a battle. I fought hard and competed my heart out, which is all I can ask for.
"Unfortunately, I didn't get the win, but then Christiaan and I closed it out for us, so I'm very happy. It was a nice atmosphere and a good vibe."
South Africa will face Togo - who also earned their second win of the tournament with a 2-1 victory over Algeria - for top spot in Group A when they meet in a crunch clash on Friday.
In Group B matches on Thursday, Namibia climbed to the top of the pool with a 2-1 victory over Senegal, while Zimbabwe triumphed 2-1 against Benin.
The top two teams in each group after Friday's round robin matches will secure spots in the Davis Cup World Group II promotion playoffs, along with the team that wins the third-place playoff on Saturday's fourth and final day of the Africa Group III competition.
© Tennis SA