The Sri Lankan duo of Harshana Godamanne and Rajeev Rajapakse were out-served and outplayed by the Hong Kong team of Martin Sayer and Hiu-Tung Yu, to suffer a 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 defeat in their Davis Cup encounter played at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts yesterday.
Hong Kong’s Martin Sayer about to blast home a rocket serve.
Pic by Sanka Vidanagama |
The loss places Sri Lanka on the brink of losing their Asia-Oceania Group two slot, and they will now need to secure wins in both their two remaining matches.
The Sri Lankans’ loss stemmed mainly from their inability to hold serve and from the very first game Rajapakse’s service was under immediate pressure. The men from Hong Kong slammed their returns with ease to have the local lads reeling early at 15-40. From there Rajapakse was able to regain his composure and hold on to claim the game.
However after Sayer comfortably held his serve, he and Yu rattled some heavy balls over the net to once again have Godamanne and Rajapakse under the gun. This time the server, Godamanne, did not have a let off, and was broken for Hong Kong to lead 2-1 on the scoreboard.
After breaking back to level it at 2-2, Sri Lanka once again suffered a break of serve that proved to be a decisive advantage which led to the two visitors closing out the first set 6-4.
The second set turned into an absolute slugfest, with both teams refusing to budge and going at each other with booming ground strokes. Once again the set started with the Sri Lankans’ serve facing unrelenting pressure. At deuce, in the first game of the set, Godamanne solidly smashed a searching lob to get Sri Lanka the advantage. However this advantage was short lived and moments later it was back to deuce after Godamanne whipped a forehand into the net. Finally Godamanne blasted a powerful serve down the middle to clinch the longest game of the match.
Injected with new life after their gritty performance in the earlier game, Sri Lanka broke Hong Kong to earn a 2-0 advantage and it looked as if the match had swung. However this was to be a minor reprieve as Hong Kong buckled down to hold serve and break back to level it at 2-2.
Frustratingly Sri Lanka were unable to put away easy volleys at the net and once again found themselves threatened at 15-40 with the score in the second set resting at 3-3. As the ball was hit firmly on the full to Godamanne he snatched at the volley to send it wide and hand a 4-3 lead to Hong Kong.
Throughout the match the wide armed Sayer pelted rocket serves which left both Sri Lankans uselessly flailing at a green speck that they had no hope of reaching.
The highlight of the match came when Godamanne was serving to keep the set alive after being down 3-5 and 0-40 in the game. Out of nowhere Godamanne discovered a spark of brilliance, manufacturing a series of brilliant aces and unreturnables to clinch the game.
Yu however dispatched his server duties with ease, to secure the second set 6-4 and bury the Sri Lankan doubles pair in a deep hole.
With shoulders slouched Rajapakse and Godamanne looked on as game after game they were effortlessly broken.
With the score 5--0 in favour of Hong Kong, the big serving Sayer stepped up to the baseline. His blistering serve along with Yu’s equally violent ground strokes unmercifully blew the Sri Lankan twosome off the scorching clay court and brought an end to the match.
Today’s first singles match is between Harshana Godamanne and Martin Sayer and will be followed by Dineshkanthan Thangarajah against Hiu-Tung Yu. Both matches will be played at the SLTA courts. |
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