Malta Davis Cup team satisfied with results

The Malta Davis Cup squad comprising of Matthew Asciak, Bradley Callus, the brothers Bernard and Matthew Cassar Torregiani together with team captain Stephen Caruana have just returned from San Marino where they participated in the Davis Cup European Group III held in July.

Thirteen nations took part in this very competitive event with the top four seeds being Estonia, Greece, Georgia and Norway.  Only two teams gain promotion to Group II.

Malta was drawn in Group D together with Georgia, Albania and Iceland.

Matthew Asciak got the ball rolling where he used all his experience and guile to beat his Icelandic opponent 6-3; 6-2.  Bernard Cassar Torregiani followed suit and won a hard fought match against R. Bonifacius after losing the first set but fought back admirably to win 5-7; 7-6 (2) and 6-1.

M. Asciak then partnered Bradley Callus in the doubles match that they won handsomely.

Malta then played Albania and Matthew Asciak again got us off to a good start winning his match convincingly 6-0; 6-0.  Bernard Cassar Torregiani again produced an excellent display and despite his young age showed good tactical sense to beat R. Pelushi 6-0; 6-3.

With the tie safely won and considering matches were being played in 38 degrees C and also the tough match we had the following day against Georgia both M. Asciak and B. Cassar Torregiani were rested and the doubles was played by Bradley Callus and Matthew Cassar Torregiani.

Despite playing against the Albanian top two players they still managed to win the match in 3 sets.

Malta then played  against Georgia in a battle for first place in the group.  Matthew Asciak played against A. Metreveli who is currently no. 519 in the world and although battling bravely for every point lost 1-6; 3-6.

Bernard also found the going very tough when playing against N. Balashvili (No. 120) and lost 1-6; 0-6. against a vastly more experienced opponent.

This meant that we had to face Montenegro in the play-off for 5th place but here again we lost the tie although with a much closer score of 1-2.

Matthew Asciak won his singles match again but Bernard Cassar Torregiani lost his encounter leaving the tie depending on the doubles match.

Matthew Asciak and Bradley Callus played the deciding tie but though trying different tactical solutions could not find a way past their opponents and lost this match 2-6; 2-6.

Playing four days in a row in taxing heat is no easy matter and is something alien for our players.  However, the preparation and commitment of our players for this event left the desired effect. 

The Malta Tennis Federation would like to thank primarily the Bank of Valletta for their continued support to the national Teams together with the Italian Tennis Federation (FIT) for having invited and provided the opportunity for our players to take part in a training camp in Sicily held under the auspices of Tennis Europe.