Morocco ousts Britain, return to world tennis pantheon

It took Morocco five painstaking matches to oust Britain (3-2) in Casablanca and return to the Davis Cup World Group.

All Morocco's odds rested on the shoulders of left-handed Hicham Arazi who beat this Monday Greg Rusedski in three sets to one 5-7, 7-5, 7-6, 7-6, to propel the team into the pantheon of world tennis.

Morocco took a 2-0 lead since the first day of the showdown, before the Britons equalized with two successive wins.

The defeat of Morocco's top player, Younes Al-Aynaoui, Sunday against Tim Henman put the North Africans in a dire strait, but salvation came from magical Arazi, whom many thought was at career end.

With yesterday's victory against Britain, Morocco will continue to be the sole African and Arab state in the World Group.