Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - SportJAMAICA'S HOPES of advancing to Davis Cup Americas Zone Group One were snuffed out for a third straight year yesterday when the doubles combination of Ryan Russell and Jermaine Smith was beaten in straight sets by its Dominican Republic hosts.
After Russell and Scott Willinsky dropped the opening day singles, the former and Smith had to win yesterday's doubles to keep the island's hopes alive, but the Dom Rep's singles players, Johnson Garcia and Victor Estrella, combined well on their favourite service clay, and relegated Jamaica into yet another struggle to avoid relegation back to Group Three with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
DISAPPOINTED CAPTAIN
"We had our chances in the third set," a disappointed national captain Douglas Burke said after the doubles rubber. "We had them both down 15-40 on their serves but we just couldn't capitalise.
"Full credit to them, though. They played well and we never really came to terms with the surface which seemed to be a combination of clay, dirt and sand. Those guys are very used to it, the sliding and such, and we have historically struggled on clay."
Burke's primary task now is to get his squad refocused for the elimination tie against either the Netherland Antilles or Guatemala. The Antilles have a 2-1 lead going into today's reverse singles.
If the Netherland Antilles win, Jamaica will probably have to play in their backyard. However, they are one of the few teams in the zone which plays on the Jamaicans' preferred surface hard court .
CLASH OF DATES
Due to college commitments in the United States, Damar Johnson and Dominic Pagon, two of the island's rising tennis stars, were unable to make the trip to Santiago, but the skipper hopes they will both be available for the next tie.
"It was an unfortunate clash of dates and you can't blame the college system because that schedule was announced well in advance of the Cup fixture," Burke said.
As for today's dead rubbers, the non-playing captain said the team was to meet last night to discuss who should play out the tie.
"We'll talk about it tonight over dinner and see how the guys feel," he said. "They are a bit down, but it's still the Davis Cup," he said
