TT, El Salvador in Davis Cup showdown

Sparked by the brilliance of the Stone brothers —- Shane and Troy, Trinidad and Tobago kept alive their chances of moving into the Davis Cup American Zone Group Three promotion round.

Yesterday, the “Calypso Boys” made their racquets do the job as they overwhelmed the determined Hondurans by a 2-1 margin. Puerto Rico, having beaten TT 3-0 on Monday, repeated yesterday when they downed El Salvador 3-0 on centre court. El Salvador got the better of  Honduras 2-1 on Monday and are now bracketed on one point like the homesters.

Today’s encounter between TT and El Salvador will determine who together with Group “B” leaders Puerto Rico will advance to the promotion round robin play-off  where the top two teams from each Group bid for the winner and runner-up spots. The top two from the promotion round will go up to the American Zone Group Two while the other two will remain in Group Three. Jamaica secured a berth in the “promotion play-off” by topping Group “A” with another convincing performamce against St Lucia whom they defeated 3-0. The “Reggae Boys” took care of Bolivia (2-1) on Monday.

Today, they will square off against Guatemala which still have a chance of qualifying should they win the tie. If Bolivia defeat St Lucia and Guatemala lose, the Bolivians will advance. However, all Trinidadians will be rooting for their boys as they take on the Central American opponents from 10 am. Shane Stone, playing as the number two player, set the stage for the victory with a hard-fought victory 6-4 and 6-4 over Calton Alvarez. And national champion Ivor Grazette, playing as the number one seed, provided a glimmer of hope for a clean sweep against Honduras. He took the first set 6-4 against Carlos Caceres who rebounded with grim determination and captured the second at 4-6. In the deciding set, Grazette commited too many unforced errors which allowed Caceres to romp home at 1-6 and level the scores 1-1.

Last year’s Central and Caribbean (CAC) Games doubles bronze medallists — Shane and Troy Stone — produced another heart-warming performance as they rallied to a closely-fought 6-4 and 7-6 (0) victory over the Hondurean pair of Pablo Hernandez and Carlos Caceres. The teams which finish third and fourth after today’s ties will battle in the relegation play-offs.

Second Day Results
Group “A”
Jamaica beat St Lucia 3-0.
Dustin Brown bt Vernon Lewis 6-4, 6-3; Ryan Russell bt Sirsean Arlain 6-1, 6-2; Brown and Russell bt Lewis and Yves Sinson 6-1 and 6-2.
BOLIVIA beat Guatemala 2-1.
Alberto Sottocomo lost to Cristian Paiz 5-7 and 3-6; Javier Taborga bt Rodrigo Gabriel 6-2, 7-6 (5); Sottocomo and Taborga bt Paiz and Jorge Tejada 7-6 (4) and 6-3.

GROUP “B”
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO beat
Honduras 2-1.
Shane Stone bt Calton Alvarez 6-4 and 6-4; Ivor Grazette lost to Carlos Caceres 6-4, 4-6, 1-6.
Shane and Troy Stone bt Pablo Hernandez and Caceres 6-4 and 7-6 (0).
PUERTO RICO beat El Salvador 3-0.
Luis Haddock bt Jaime Cuellar 6-7 (1),6-2,6-4; Gabriel Montilla bt Rafael Arevelo 6-1, 6-4; Gilberto Alvarez and Montilla bt Jose Baires and Augusto Sanabria 6-3 and 6-4.