TENNIS DAVIS CUP:THE FITZWILLIAM Tennis Club founders may have frowned last night. Irish players fist pumping, face-painted kids screaming and pouring all over the stadium like head lice added to a sweet night for Ireland as they took a commanding 2-0 lead against Turkey in their Europe-African Group 2 Davis Cup match.
Sweet too for James McGee after Irish number one, Louk Sorensen, pulled out late on Thursday night forcing McGee to step up for his first home soil Davis Cup tie, which he won in straight sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.
But Conor Niland, the senior partner in yesterday’s two singles matches, stole the perfect night. The 28-year-old tore apart the Turkish number one Marsel Ilhan, who at 129 in the world is ranked more than 100 places above the Irishman.
Ireland can now win the tie if they can take the doubles match today and go into what would be an unassailable 3-0 lead. That’s an outcome that everyone here hopes will set up a meeting with Britain in Dublin a week after the Wimbledon final. Britain finished 1-1 with Lithuania yesterday after the first day.
Niland, who will equal Eoin Casey’s record of 26 Davis Cup ties in the July match played at a level that soared above Ilhan, winning 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 without wavering.
Consistent grounds strokes, great returns of serves and his determination to never give up cheap points put Niland in control from the first set when he raced to a 4-1 lead before acing his opponent for 1-0.
The second set was pivotal for the Irishman. In a three-game sequence Niland broke Ilhan’s serve, then dropped his immediately before rallying and breaking the Turk straight away for 3-2. Confidence grew and he then raced off with that set and the match.
“Yeah, I broke him. He broke me. I broke him back,” said Niland afterwards. “That was important I felt. I wasn’t expecting a straight sets win. But playing Challengers you see them (top 150 players) everywhere. If you believe you can beat them, then you can. I felt if I played well I could beat him.”
McGee came into the side late on Friday night when it was confirmed that the hamstring injury that had been hampering Sorensen throughout the week, would not allow him take part in the opening match against Haluk Akkoyun.
Sorensen has been struggling with his hamstring since 2005, when he badly tore the muscle and was forced out of the game for five months. While there was some anxiety over the problem, team captain Sean Sorensen, Louk’s father, said that he expected him to play. Ranked at 231 in the world Sorensen was the Irish number one and had rode into the tournament on a wave of publicity going back to his Australian Open appearance in January.
“I had the doctor look at it yesterday (Thursday). It wasn’t good. It was too big of a risk,” said the player, who will travel back to Germany on Monday to have a scan. His focus now must rest on the clay court season and ultimately qualification for the French Open at Roland Garros in May.
But McGee stepping in was seamless and in a one way first day he too demolished the 1,192-ranked Akkoyum.
