Ireland regroup and go through

TENNIS DAVIS CUP: AFTER A shaky opening on Friday, when the first round of matches were interrupted by Algerian rain, Ireland regrouped and secured a place in the second round of the Davis Cup Euro/Africa Zone Group II yesterday.

It was Limerick’s Conor Niland, who earned the important win on clay, when he beat the Algerian number one Eddy Chala 7-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the first of the reverse singles match. Chala had beaten James McGee 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday to give the home side a 1-0 lead after McGee had been drafted in to play for Ireland following an injury to the Irish number two Louk Sorensen.

Ranked at just over 300 in the world, Louk picked up a wrist injury during the week and was unable to play.

However, Niland ended the first day’s play levelling the score to 1-1, when he defeated the home side’s number two player, Slimane Saoudi, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 following a short rain delay.

Importantly for the Irish momentum, McGee and Colin O’Brien went out as a pairing and beat Abdelhak Hameurlaine and Sliamane Saoudi in a tight doubles match that went to five sets, Ireland snatching it 7-5, 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-2, 6-4. That result ensured Ireland needed only one of the final day’s two singles matches to win the contest outright. Niland, who has been playing on the international circuit over the last few years, obliged with his second victory of the fixture.

In the end Niland beat Chala with ease, claiming the first set yesterday morning 7-6 before going on to dominate the second and third, restricting the lower-ranked player to just four games in the 6-2, 6-2 win. McGee’s reverse rubber with Saoudi yesterday afternoon then became irrelevant with Ireland now facing a second round meeting with Cyprus, who beat Portugal in the other draw.

Meanwhile, world number one Rafael Nadal beat number three Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 yesterday to give champions Spain victory in their Davis Cup first-round tie and a place in the last eight against Germany.

The Australian Open champion’s win gave Spain an unassailable 3-1 lead and David Ferrer, who upset Djokovic in the delayed opening singles on Saturday, wrapped up a 4-1 victory when he beat Viktor Troicki 6-0, 6-3 in the shortened remaining singles in the best-of-five tie.

The second seeds will play Germany at home in July’s world group quarter-finals after Nicolas Kiefer beat Juergen Melzer yesterday to give them an unassailable 3-1 lead against Austria in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.