The Maltese Davis Cup squad, made up of Matthew Asciak, Bradley Callus and brothers Bernard and Matthew Cassar Torregiani, together with team captain Stephen Caruana, have just returned from San Marino where they competed in the Davis Cup European Group III tournament.

Thirteen nations took part with the top four seeds being Cyprus, Estonia, Macedonia and Georgia. Malta were drawn in Group D along with Georgia, Albania and Iceland.

Asciak set the ball rolling at the Centro Tennis Cassa di Risparmio outdoor clay courts. He used all his experience and guile to beat his Icelandic opponent 6-3 6-2.

Bernard Cassar Torregiani followed suit, winning a hard-fought match after losing the first set – 5-7 7-6 6-1.

Asciak then partnered Callus in doubles and they won handsomely to complete the whitewash.

Malta met Albania in their next meeting. Asciak again got the team off to a good start, winning his match convincingly 6-0 6-0.

Bernard Cassar Torregiani also produced an excellent display, showing good tactical sense despite his young age to prevail 6-0 6-3.

With the tie safely won and a tough match against Georgia coming up the next day, Caruana rested Asciak and Cassar Torregiani for the doubles and opted for Callus and Matthew Cassar Torregiani.

Despite playing against the Albanian top two, the Maltese pair still managed to win the match in three sets.

The tie against Georgia was a decider for the group.

Asciak played against A. Metreveli, currently no.519 in the world. The Maltese no.1 put on a battling performance but it was not enough as the Georgian took the spoils 6-1 6-3.

Bernard Cassar Torregiani also found the going tough against N. Balashvili (no.120) and lost 6-1 6-0.

This defeat meant Malta had to face Montenegro in a 5-8th place classification match.

Asciak won his singles match again but Bernard Cassar Torregiani lost his encounter. The issue was to be decided in the doubles encounter.

Asciak and Callus played in the crunch tie but, despite trying different tactical solutions, they could not find a way past their opponents and lost 6-2 6-2.

Norway and Georgia were promoted to Group II after beating Cyprus and Estonia respectively in the decisive play-offs.

In a statement, the Malta Tennis Federation said playing four days in a row in scorching weather was no easy task for Caruana’s players.

“However, the preparation and commitment of the team for this tournament left the desired effect,” the MTF said while thanking Bank of Valletta for their continued support to the national teams.

Prior to the Davis Cup tournament in San Marino, the Maltese players accepted an Italian tennis federation invitation to attend a training camp in Sicily, held under the auspices of Tennis Europe.

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