25 Apr Fed Cup 2009 Day 5 Review
Ireland completed their Fed Cup campaign for 2009 on a positive note this evening (April 25th) with a good 2-1 win over the host nation Malta at the Marsa Sports Club, Malta. Garry Cahill will be very pleased with the performance of his young squad throughout the week considering that three quarters of the players had never experienced the intensity of Fed Cup competition before.
With Finland and Greece battling it out for the top spot, Ireland and Malta were contesting the race for third position on the final day of play. Amy Bowtell kicked off the days proceedings in style for Ireland with an excellent victory in the first rubber against Stephanie Sullivan, winning 6-4, 6-1 in a match she was always in control of. Ireland’s Rachael Dillon faced more difficult opposition when she came up against Kimberley Cassar, current Maltese No. 1 and the only player to score a win over the Greeks during the week. In a tight match Dillon was unlucky not to come out on top in a first set tie break, but Cassar’s good form carrying her through the match winning 7-6(5), 6-4.
With it all to play for in the final rubber of the week it would be up to Lynsey McCullough and Jenny Claffey to steal a win against the Maltese combination of Liza Camenzuli and Kimberley Cassar to finish in third spot. In a tight match the Irish eventually came out on top 6-4, 4-6, (10-4) to grab third position in the pool and a seventh straight victory over the Maltese in Fed Cup competition.
Greece topped the group with a convincing 3-0 over second placed Finland, with Malta finishing fourth on one point and Algeria propping up the table with no points. Armenia, who topped the other pool in Euro/Africa Zone Group III, will join Greece in Group II of the Euro/Africa Zone in 2010.
The results gained at this years Fed Cup will no doubt go a long way to convince this young group Irish players that they can be more than a match for the rival nations in the coming years and push for promotion in the future.
For full results of the Fed Cup Euro/Africa Group III click here