By Stephen Higgins
Words cannot do justice to the drama that unfolded at the end of day one at the UL Sport Arena.
Having notched the first set after a pulsating tie-break, Ireland no.2 Peter Buldorini was embroiled in a fierce second set when he fell in the eighth game. The culprit: severe cramp. The 21-year-old received some treatment by the sideline and then went back and held serve.
The Limerick crowd then witnessed the surreal scene of two poor men trying to contest a tennis match between limps. Al Azmeh was broken with a sad double fault, and Buldorini, with one working leg but plenty of courage, earned the chance to serve for the match.
“I think I did a great job at just trying to keep the game simple, play with what I had, being aggressive in the first few shots and trying to find a way to keep the pressure up and hoping he’d make a few mistakes.’
He duly did so after an insane final game that saw the Irishman dish out a couple of underhand serves due to discomfort with his usual motion. By that stage, both men were visibly hampered during the points, not just either side.
In the end, Buldorini snatched victory with a volley winner and collapsed to the ground…cramps again. He then thanked the crowd from a seat by the net post as we all tried to process what had happened.
It was a highly unusual conclusion to what had been a brilliant contest.
Both players were impressive in the opening set, holding serve right through to the tie-break. In his second tie for Ireland, Buldorini seemed to adjust well to the emotional and tactical questions posed by the occasion. Meanwhile, Al Azmeh frequently dished out pulverising first serves to great effect.
After a set of superb, intelligent play, a tie-break was the fairest conclusion.
Al Azmeh opened strongly, but will rue a couple of daft moments right when it mattered. While leading 4-2, he went for a ridiculously powerful second serve that flew into the net. He soon followed that with a weak drop shot as the tension presumably took its toll.
While the Syrian started to unravel, Buldorini kept pressing and a fine drop shot off his own racquet set up an easy volley to clinch the opening set.
The second saw Al Azmeh incorporate much more aggression as he tried to halt the momentum. They traded back and forth before that manic end to the contest. All told, Buldorini edged an incredible spectacle 7-6 (5) 6-4.
The match point was an ‘amazing feeling of relief and pure joy’ for Buldorini.
“It lasted a very short time because I had a full body cramp after that! Unfortunately, I wasn’t even able to stand up after the last point, but I think it was a phenomenal finish. I couldn’t ask for more as a tennis player in front of a home crowd. It’s like literally a dream come true.”
Earlier in the day, Ireland’s no.1 Michael Agwi couldn’t bring his best form to the opening singles as he fell to the excellently steady Hazem Naw.
Naw has been the standard bearer in singles for Syria for a number of years and boasted an impressive 14-2 Davis Cup record in Davis Cup going in. You could see that experience throughout the match as the 26-year-old effectively used shape and depth on his strokes to keep errors at bay and contain Agwi.
Unfortunately for the exciting Agwi, he was unable to find the inspiration we saw in his last singles against China as Naw’s composure, and too many errors, proved fatal. Naw (below) took the first point for his country with a 6-1 6-3 scoreline.
With the tie level at 1-1, we now turn to day two where we shall see a doubles match followed by two singles. Limerick lad Charlie Barry will partner with Conor Gannon against Naw and Al Ayzem in the doubles, before we will (supposedly) see the reverse matches in singles.
However, we may not get to see Peter Buldorini take to the court tomorrow after going above and beyond the call of duty this afternoon.
