BY TYM GLASER, Associate Editor Sport
MONTEGO BAY's RYAN Russell ensured Jamaica of yet another year in Davis Cup Americas Zone Group Two by utterly dismantling Guatemala's No. 1 player, Cristian Paiz, in their reverse singles match at the Tryall Club in Hanover yesterday.
With the hosts holding a 2-1 edge going into the final day of the elimination encounter, the Montegonian left-hander took only an hour and 10 minutes to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead and relegate the Central Americans back to Group Three with a 6-3, 6-0, 3-0 ret., trouncing of his over-matched opponent.
After a relatively even start to the first set, Russell's skill and power took over and a break in the seventh game was the start of a run of 12 straight games for the hometown hero before Paiz pulled out of the match with a strained upper right thigh muscle.
Russell was simply a class above in all facets of the game and if it had been a boxing match, the referee would have called it off early.
The Guatemalan's eventual forfeit saw Russell celebrate, for the third straight year, a Group Two salvage job.
LESS AGGRESSIVE
"I'm feeling good. We came out with the win," Russell said after his triumph. "I came out and wasn't feeling the ball that good so I changed my style, I played less aggressive and put a lot more balls in the court and saw it pay off as he started to wilt.
"I was a little nervous to start with ... you always are when you are representing your country, but I love playing in Jamaica and having the crowd behind me," he said.
Russell also wasn't overly concerned about his opponent's injury.
"I thought he was just tired physically and mentally, he was possibly struggling being two sets down. He played well but I think the sun just got to him," he said.
Although the victory was to be savoured, three years in a row of relegation battles is starting to wear thin on Russell and his captain, Douglas Burke.
"Next year we are definitely going to work harder on preparing for our first-round match, pull out a victory and take it from there," Russell stated.
VALUABLE EXPERIENCE
A relieved Burke said: "We have done what we came here to do. We won the tie. Ryan was tremendous once again coming up big for Jamaica. Jermaine (Smith) came down for the doubles and did the job in an important match. Damion (Johnson) had fitness issues but managed to keep Paiz out there on the court yesterday, which helped today. Eldad (Campbell) got some valuable experience in the dead rubber today and that augurs well for the future.
"To advance (to Group One) though we need to get our best players together at a given time to get ready for Cup ties. However, the younger guys like Damion and Eldad can only improve - so there is a light down the road," he said. 'I think we can really look forward to cementing our place in the group."
A major problem for the team has been its away form - particularly on clay and Burke conceded that was a long-standing problem that needed to be remedied if Jamaica were to have any chance of advancing to Group One.
"It's a tricky one. We need to look at more preparation on that surface," he said. "One of the things we are doing is focussing on our regional centres. We are refurbishing Eric Bell (in Kingston), which has already started. Then we are planning to develop a tennis centre in Montego Bay and also one in Ocho Rios and we are going to try and put a clay court in one of the centres to give our younger guys exposure to that surface."
In yesterday's dead rubber, Burke gave 17-year-old Wolmer's schoolboy Campbell a run against the impressive Israel Morales. The Guatemalan won 6-4, 6-1 but Campbell showed he is not far off the Cup-level mark.
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