Defeat Pervolaraki and … troubles for Greece
TENNIS
Michalis Pervolarakis did not confirm the title of favorite and suffered a shock defeat from No. 1390 in the world rankings, Rouland Phillips and put the national team in trouble.
Michalis Pervolarakis did not confirm the title of favorite in the 1st tie of Greece – Jamaica at the Ace Tennis Club of Pallini and knowing a shock defeat from No. 1390 of the world ranking, Rouland Phillips, put the national team in trouble.
The No. 1 Greek – absent of Stefanos Tsitsipas – was defeated by Phillips in 2 hours and 13 minutes of play, with 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 and Jamaica took a 0-1 lead in the Best of-5 which will decide which of the two teams will be in the 2nd – and last – qualifying round of the play-offs, World Group II.
Without catching a high performance, Michalis managed to control the pace of the match only from the middle and until the end of the 2nd set (where he converted the 4-3 to 4-6) and fatally suffered the defeat by his Jamaican opponent, who is … 988 places lower in the world rankings.
Although he made a great effort to return to the match, when he was back with 5-0 in the decisive part of the match, the 25-year-old Greek reduced to 5-3, but did not find the 2nd break he was looking for, losing bitterly in his premiere.
Phillips found excellent returns to Pervolarakis’s serve, had better movement on the court, was able to “build” most rallies more intelligently and proved to be much more effective than the No. 402 tennis player in the world, reaching one of the great victories of his career.
Now, it is the turn of Petros Tsitsipas’s match with Blaise Bicknell (18: 45GR), which will “close” the program of the 1st day of games in Pallini. In case of victory of the Jamaican, then Greece will have to make … 3-0 in its favor on Saturday (4/3) to qualify.
DAVIS CUP PLAY OFFS – WORLD GROUP II – GREECE – JAMAICA
Source: Tennis24.gr