Kwesi Mugisa, Staff ReporterTHE RED clay courts of the Centro Espanol in the Dominican Republic have left the Jamaican Davis Cup team feeling blue after their first day of competition, as the hosts yesterday easily took a 2-0 lead in the Americas Zone Group II tie.
The home team failed to drop a set and won six straight games for a commanding lead headed into today's second day of action.
Scott Willinsky, who looked to get things going for Jamaica in the first rubber, never really did and provided very little resistance for the Dominican Republic's top player, Johnson Garcia. Garcia served off to a furious start, effortlessly winning the first set 6-1, the second set 6-3 and then blanked Willinsky 6-0 in the final set.
SECOND LOSS
This is the second consecutive loss for Willinsky against Garcia within just a few months. In a tie played at the Liguanea Club, Jamaica, in March of last year, Johnson triumphed over Willinsky 3-6, 3-6, 4-6 and saw his team clinch a 3-2 victory. For Jamaica's top Davis Cup player Ryan Russell things seemed to go just as badly. The 22-year -old, in his 32nd appearance for Jamaica, never got a foot in the door against the Dominican Republic's number two player Victor Estrella.
Perhaps taking cue from Garcia, Estrella also got off to an early lead, winning the first set 6-3, the second 6-2 and then saw off Russell 6-0 in the final set to give his team what seems to be an unassailable lead. This time the result was a reversal of the encounter which saw the two lock horns last March, on that occasion Russell prevailed 6-7(4) 6-2 6-2 6-1.
MORE COMFOERTABLE
"They are obviously a lot more comfortable on the surface than we are. Historically, it's always been difficult for us playing Davis Cup ties on clay and it's a trend that continues," assessed national technical director and team captain Douglas Burke.
"We definitely have to give them credit, they played very well and they just out played us today," he said.
To have any kind of chance whatsoever, Russell must team up with Jermaine Smith and beat Garcia and Estrella in the third rubber which begins at 11:00 a.m. today, a feat which they failed to accomplish in March when they fell to the pair in straight sets 4-6, 6-7(5), 4-6. However, despite the deficit Burke remains hopeful of a comeback.
"Once we're playing we are always in with a fighting chance. It is a very difficult thing to do, but tomorrow (today) we will go out and give it our best shot," he said.
