Renault South Africa team aim to hit back against Morocco in Davis Cup tie

They were left with some work to do, but captain Pietie Norval remained confident the Renault South Africa team could fight back after they found themselves trailing 2-0 against Morocco on the first day of their Davis Cup tie in Pretoria on Saturday.

In the first singles match, SA No 1 Alec Beckley dug deep in warm conditions and had a chance to wrap up the match at the end of the second set against Morocco's No 2 Yassine Dlimi.

However, Beckley was unable to take advantage of two match points, and Dlimi took control in the third set, ultimately securing a hard-fought 6-7 7-6 6-2 victory.

Having recently recovered from illness, and playing with two torn ligaments in his left hand, Beckley said he had given it everything in front of a packed crowd at Groenkloof Tennis Club.

"It was there for the taking. It was on my racket, and I never thought for a second that it was over. I knew I had to finish it, so in my mind I was still in it," Beckley said.

"In the first match point the ball came a bit quick on me, but these things happen. It's tennis, and it's a funny sport.

"I'm obviously very disappointed about how quickly it turned around like that, but I gave it everything I could and fought hard in every aspect."

In the second singles rubber, Davis Cup debutant Marc van der Merwe got off to a cracking start against Morocco No 1 Taha Baadi.

But Baadi retained his composure and managed to assert his dominance in the second set, on his way to a 3-6 6-1 6-1 win.

Van der Merwe admitted he had felt under pressure, with the SA team trailing 1-0 when he took to the court, and while he was boosted by a lively home crowd, he was outplayed in the second and third sets.

"There was definitely pressure. I haven't played in front of a crowd like that, but I think I started well," Van der Merwe said.

"But the guy (Baadi) lifted his level in that second set. I had a chance to kind of show him that I'm not going to disappear and show him I could still make it tough. I could have made it 2-2 (in the second set) but I lost that game... and then I think he started playing with more confidence."

Norval said his team were not giving up, and they felt they could bounce back by winning the doubles match and the reverse singles fixtures on Sunday.

Though he could still make changes to the national side before the start of those rubbers, Norval hoped Beckley would recover in time from his tough clash on Saturday to pair up with Thando Longwe-Smit in the doubles contest against Yassine Dlimi and Younes Lalami Laaroussi, as the hosts aimed to keep their hopes alive.

"We're not down and out yet. We feel we're quite strong in the doubles and if we can put a full team forward - we're a little worried about Alec, but I need him in the doubles - and they get through it, then suddenly there will be a bit more pressure on Morocco," Norval said.

"So we'll chat about it tonight and do some strategising to see how we can get through tomorrow."

Day two of the Davis Cup World Group II tie between South Africa and Morocco will start at 10am on Sunday. It will be broadcast live on SuperSport Tennis (channel 214).