Tym Glaser, Associate Editor- Sport
Cuba's Ricardo Chile-Fonte is down and out, with severe cramps to his legs and right arm as Jamaica clinched the Davis Cup Group Two tie at the Liguanea Club yesterday. Jamaica won 3-1 as the island's number one player, Ryan Russell, defeated Chile-Fonte 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8), 2-3 ret. to improve his home court Davis Cup singles record to a remarkable 10-1. - JUNIOR DOWIE/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
JAMAICA WON their Americas Zone Group Two elimination clash with Cuba by TKO at the Liguanea Club, New Kingston yesterday.
When game Cuban Ricardo Chile-Forte collapsed to the court in the sixth game of the fourth set with severe cramps to his legs and right arm, the hosts clinched the tie 3-1 and, after a hurricane delay and doubles loss, finally secured their place in Group Two whilst relegating their northern neighbours to the tennis wilderness known as Group Three.
The island's No.1 player, Ryan Russell, delivered the telling blows yesterday as he accounted for Chile-Fonte 3-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (8), 2-3 ret. to improve his home court Davis Cup singles record to a remarkable 10-1 but it was an ugly win.
The protagonists, who both played in Sunday's tremendous five-set doubles clash which Cuba won, appeared below their best form and some sensationally bad sportsmanship on and off the court and ordinary umpiring reduced the match to a near farce in the first set.
BALL ABUSE
By the end of the first set, both players had been cautioned for ball abuse and Russell copped a point penalty at the end of it for a "visible obscenity" which was deducted from the first game of the second set.
Poor line calls, gamesmanship and a chair umpire unwilling to put things in order made for a set in which neither player could settle into a groove. Russell appeared to suffer most from the continual arguments and disruptions and was broken three times after taking a 2-0 lead in the opening set.
However, rising from the obscenity-induced - 0-15 deficit, Russell broke immediately in the second set, but gave it straight back next game as both players lacked any great service pop. They then held serve to force a tiebreak which Russell dominated. A clear signal that the Cuban was tiring, after almost two hours of play in the 31/2-plus hour match came when he played an ill-advised drop shot down 5-2.
Russell wrapped up the set and then ensued a series of breaks in the third stanza by both players, complemented by an injury time-out for the Cuban as they laboured, under the gruelling sun, towards another tie-break.
With painful inevitability, they went to the sudden-death stage and Chile-Forte, seeing his hopes next to zero if the match progressed beyond four sets against super-fit Russell, raced to a 5-1 lead before the 22-year-old, left-hand local hero clicked into gear, pulled himself back into the set and won it with a superb lunging volley at the net.
Utterly sapped, Chile-Fonte summoned up great courage from perhaps his toe nails and broke Russell in the fourth game of set four for a 3-1 lead but that was to be his and his country's last hurrah.
In a ridiculous amount of pain, he was reduced to serving under arm and even played the final point of a broken service game with his left hand.
Facing Russell's serve in the sixth game of the set, Chile-Fonte collapsed first to his knees and then lay on his back as the pain became unbearable and he had to surrender the tie.
Unable to walk, he was then carried back to the Liguanea Club's makeshift medical centre where he was placed on a HIV drip.
The Jamaican celebrations at avoiding relegation were short and sweet and the remaining fifth dead rubber was called off.
DECISIVE FACTOR
Russell's superior fitness was clearly the decisive factor and he said as much after extending a phenomenal record at the New Kingston venue.
"It was tough, it was Davis Cup tennis. There was a rough start and some poor line calls early in the game but I just stuck it out," Russell said.
"By the second set I felt I was playing better and he was starting to cramp, so I thought I had it from there," he said.
Clinching the tie and doing just that before a small but enthusiastic crowd was foremost in his mind.
"I feel like I can't lose on this court," he said. "I feel so confident, I have the crowd behind me, I just love playing here in Kingston," said the Montegonian.
Jamaican Cup skipper Douglas Burke was a relieved man after the crucial rubber and lauded his top player.
"We all know his guts," Burke said of Russell. "He has shown us time and time again his heart and he has really put in the work because you can see the type of shape he is in," he said.
"Now we have a well rounded and well-balanced team; they all get along and I think that speaks very well for the future. This is the first time we have won a tie at home in quite a while and this must give us confidence," Burke said looking forward to next year's campaign.
