Team captain Christo van Rensburg said he was "proud" of the South African squad, despite going down 3-1 to Lebanon in their Davis Cup World Group II tie held at a neutral venue in Cairo, Egypt, at the weekend.
Trailing 2-0 going into the second and final day of the tie on Sunday, South Africa did well to pull one point back by winning the doubles rubber.
While Lebanon had been expected to field Mustapha El Natour and Fadi Bidan in the doubles clash, they were replaced by singles players Benjamin Hassan and Hady Habib.
Philip Henning and Alec Beckley, who both lost their opening singles matches the day before, combined well to beat Hassan and Habib 7-6 6-3.
🇿🇦 1⃣ - 2⃣ 🇱🇧
— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) September 15, 2024
Philip Henning and Alec Beckley put South Africa on the scoreboard after winning the doubles rubber 7-6(5), 6-3 against Hady Habib and Benjamin Hassan. What an impressive performance!
Beckley will next face Habib in the reverse singles.#DavisCup… pic.twitter.com/QEqfevKKTu
Aiming to draw the SA team level in the return singles, Henning fell in a 2-6 3-6 defeat to Hassan, the only player in the tie ranked among the top 300 in the world.
The final match of the tie, a dead rubber between Beckley and Habib, was not played.
"I was very proud of our boys coming back in the doubles today," said SA captain Christo van Rensburg.
"Benjamin Hassan was just too good on the day. He's played his whole life on clay, so he moved well and he overpowered us. Well done to Lebanon."
Van Rensburg was full of praise for their hosts, who had agreed to put on the encounter due to safety and security concerns in Lebanon.
"We were treated so well. When we arrived at the venue this morning (Sunday) they said they wanted us to win, so we definitely climbed into their hearts here in Cairo," Van Rensburg said.
"We enjoyed it, and now the guys know what they have to work on. We'll get better as they mature more."
Lebanon will compete in the World Group I playoffs next year, while South Africa will turn out in World Group II playoffs.