By Stephen Higgins
Ireland will return to Group III of the Davis Cup after Syria edged a dramatic doubles contest before Taym Al Azmeh overcame Michael Agwi to clinch the play-off tie.
The Irish side went into Saturday level with the visitors after an extraordinary first day at the University of Limerick’s Sport Arena.
In the first singles, Syria’s stalwart Hazem Naw recorded his 15th Davis Cup victory in the format with a 6-1 6-3 win over Irish no.1 Agwi. While it was a disappointing start, the day ended with a breathtaking contest as a cramp-stricken Peter Buldorini somehow got the better of Al Azmeh after two hours of pulsating play.
You can read my report on the day one action here.
With the tie finely poised at 1-1, the sole doubles encounter took on huge importance for both sides. Irish captain Conor Niland selected regular starter Conor Gannon for it along with debutant Charlie Barry.
Barry has surged of late on the ATP Tour, rising over 1,000 places in the doubles ranking in 12 months. The 24-year-old now sits just outside the top 300 and started the 2026 season with an ITF title in France.
Playing in front of his home crowd, with former Irish no.1 and brother Sam in attendance, Charlie put on a show for the UL audience. From the very start, the accomplished lefty used his swinging serve and polished volleys to impose himself on the contest.
With Gannon a good foil, Ireland raced to a 5-0 lead in the opening set, overwhelming Naw and Al Azmeh with commanding play around the net and on return. The visitors salvaged a game to avoid a bagel, but the impressive Irish were firmly on top and took it 6-1.
However, doubles can swing in an instant and momentum is never really true until the last point.
Naw and Al Azmeh refocused, and then took advantage of a few too many second serves from Barry and Gannon. The Irish hardly dropped off, but the determined Syrians smelt blood and were ruthless when opportunities arose.
In the fourth game of the second set, powerful returns from the visitors eventually took their toll and Gannon was broken for the first time. From there, Naw and Al Azmeh solidified their foothold in the match. With Al Azmeh’s powerful serve as a sturdy foundation, they maintained their lead to the end of the second and secured it 6-3.
With both pairings on form, the final set went with serve though Ireland looked more threatening on return. It wasn’t until the 10th game that opportunity truly arrived in the shape of two match points for the home pair.
A superb poach from Gannon at 15-15 sent the crowd into raptures. A loose forehand from Naw then handed Ireland two match points. But the moment of glory would not come.
The first match point flew off Barry’s racquet before sharp net instincts from Al Azmeh eradicated the second. A couple of smart wide serves from Naw then snatched the game for Syria and we entered a deciding tie-break.
The crucial breaker opened nervously, with both Barry and Naw double faulting. But Ireland took a 3-2 lead thanks to excellent work from Barry at the net, and solid serving from Gannon.
At 4-4, you thought that it might be Ireland’s day as Barry produced a superb ace out wide on the deuce side – the toughest target for a left-hander. But the Syrians wouldn’t relent and responded immediately.
At 5-5, a wide serve from Naw went unreturned and a Syrian match point arrived.
After a missed first serve, Gannon’s second delivery was fired back through the approaching Dubliner by Naw. That was that and the Syrian team erupted on the sidelines. It felt at the time like Ireland’s chance for victory had probably slipped away given the quality of Naw and Al Azmeh in singles.
And so it proved. With the visitors holding a 2-1 advantage, Al Azmeh returned to the court to face Agwi.
The Irish no.1 struggled in his opening singles bout with Naw on day one, and that lack of confidence unfortunately continued at the start of this one. On the other side of the court, Al Azmeh was finely tuned after over four hours on court at UL.
As Agwi tried to find his range, Al Azmeh took advantage of errors from the Irishman and was resolute behind his service. The first set went in a flash, 6-1 to the Syrian.
However, as we have seen numerous times in Agwi’s young career, the Irishman can get hot even when the situation looks grim. After falling 0-2 behind in the second, the 22-year-old finally found a balance off the ground and inflicted consistent damage to his opponent.
He unearthed a break from somewhere in the fourth game and Irish fans wondered if that might change the momentum. Alas, those hopes were soon dashed as Al Azmeh broke straight back.
Agwi’s level definitely improved through the set and he displayed some of the destructive strokes we have witnessed in recent years. But the Syrian’s head start proved too much in the end. The Irishman forced Al Azmeh to serve it out at 5-4 and the 21-year-old did not flinch.
A final netted forehand from Agwi gave Syria the match and the tie, confirming their future participation in Davis Cup Group II, and Ireland’s relegation.
In the final dead singles rubber, Ireland’s Ammar Elamin defeated Yacoub Makzoume 6-3 6-2 to send the Limerick fans home with a cheer.
