Nairobi — Kenyan youngster Cynthia Cheruto believes her experience at last year's Billie Jean King Cup Group III will come in handy at this year's edition.

Cheruto admits last year's competition was a steep learning curve but that she has grown mentally ever since.

"I gained a lot of experience from last year's competition and I think I am better this year. It helps that most of the players from the previous edition are the same ones at this competition. I am looking forward to it," Cheruto said.

The Mbagathi Road Secondary School student served off Kenya's charge at the tournament on a positive note, defeating Mauritius' Anna Chan Kwai Siong 6-3 6-4 on day one of the competition at the Nairobi Club on Monday morning.

It was never smoothsailing for Cheruto who concedes she was on edge in the initial stages of the game but grew as it wore on.

"I feel so good to have won this game...I was the one who was opening the court for my country. When I was playing in the first set, I was a little bit shaky but I thank my teammates for supporting me and giving me courage to continue playing well," she said.

Kenya are in Group B where they still have matches against second seed Tunisia and eighth seed Burundi.

Having finished third at last year's edition - in which Kenya beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in the third place playoffs - Cheruto believes the next logical step is to gain promotion to Group II.

"As a team, our target is to qualify for Group II. For me all that is left for me to do today is to support my teammates as they play their matches," she said.

The competition, which is being held in Nairobi for the second successive year, features 12 countries including Kenya....