05 Mar Irish team lose out in Davis Cup promotion playoff
Today’s challenge against Cyprus proved to be one step too many for this young Irish Davis Cup team but Niland will surely be proud of their efforts.
Peter Bothwell played a player ranked 572 to his 1015 in his 2nd rubber of the week and lost on a scoreline of 6-1 2-6 6-0. This was the 10th Davis Cup tie for Chrysochos who now has a 7/5 win/loss singles record in Davis Cup.
Sam Barry followed this with a gutsy performance against world no 37 Marcos Baghdatis who’s Davis Cup record speaks for itself with an incredible 42 ties played and a win/loss record of 46/3 singles matches. Todays score was 6-4 7-6(3) to the Cypriot.
Cyprus are therefore promoted to group II and Ireland remain in group III for another year. However, the experience that Niland’s young players will have gained this week will undoubtedly stand to them in future ties.