Davis Cup

06/16/2021 | News release | Distributed by Public on 06/16/2021 11:24

Carr drives Ireland to victory on Europe Group III opening day

Irish No. 1 Simon Carr won his singles match and teamed up with David O'Hare to give Ireland a 2-1 win over Luxembourg on the opening day of the Davis Cup by Rakuten Europe Group III event in Cyprus.

Carr, who is just 21 years old, showed his maturity as he kept his cool to overcome Alex Knaff 6-3 6-2 in the second singles match, before securing the crucial doubles victory against Raphael Calzi and Knaff 6-3 6-4.

The opening match in that tie went the way of Luxembourg's Chris Rodesch, who saw off Osgar O'Hoisin 3-6 6-0 6-2.

Irish stand-in skipper Carlos Miranda said: 'Our goal is to get promoted, a very difficult goal as everyone here plays a very good level of tennis. However, I am very proud of our team so far. I would also like to say thank you to the people here and the organisation, which has been outstanding and made us feel at home.'

In the day's two other ties, Monaco put on a strong showing against Malta, dropping just three games across all three matches to win 3-0, while Georgia looked solid in their 3-0 victory against Iceland.

Monaco captain Guillaume Couillard, who was a Davis Cup stalwart as a player between 2002 and 2014, was very satisfied with his team's dominance on the opening day in Larnaca.

'Under such weather conditions nothing can be certain, which is why they have taken this first day very seriously. Managing to win today has given us confidence - especially if the wind continues - as we are facing a very tough tie tomorrow against the very good Irish team. On paper we might be the favourite team to rank first, but in practice that would be a difficult accomplishment.'

Hosts Cyprus will look to get their campaign off to winning ways when they take to the court for the first time against Iceland on Thursday.

Seven nations are in action at the Europe Group III event this week, all vying for one of the three promotion spots on offer.