On Day 1 of the 2021 Davis Cup by Rakuten Group III Asia/Oceania Tie in Amman, Jordan, the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup Team came within 1 point of producing the upset of the day in Pool B but finally lost 2-1 to the 2nd Seeds, Vietnam. All 3 Matches (2 Singles and 1 Doubles) went to 3 Sets.
Clement Mainguy (VAN), playing in his 1st Davis Cup Tie, had match point against his more seasoned opponent, Linh Giang Trinh (VIE) but was finally beaten 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in 2hrs 08m on the very fast hard courts. The 2 telling statistics were that of his 10 break point opportunities, he only managed to convert 3 of these (30%) compared to his opponent’s 57%. Additionally his 1st serve % was at 65% compared to his opponent’s 76%. Captain, Richard Breen, commented that on the match point he had, “a forehand down the line that just tipped the top of the net and fell to the wrong side of the court, so the winning of the match was a matter of millimetres.
In the 2nd Singles match the #1 Pacific Oceania player, Colin Sinclair (NMI), with a World Singles Ranking of 723 played a similarly ranked player Nam Hoang Ly (VIE) who has a World Singles Ranking of 782. Again this match went to 3 sets with Colin Sinclair (NMI) winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in a 2hr 12m match in 35C heat.
The Tie then came down to the deciding Doubles Match with the Pacific Oceania pairing of Colin Sinclair (NMI)/Brett Baudinet (CI), playing in his 57th Davis Cup Tie against Quoc-Khanh Le (VIE)/Nam Hoang Ly (VIE). The Vietnamese pairing finally prevailed in 1hr 44mins 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The Pacific Oceania Team had 17 break point opportunities but could only covert 1 of these (6%).
Results of Day 1 – Wednesday 15th September
Pool A Points Standing After Day 1
Pool B Points Standing After Day 1
Pool C Points Standing After Day 1
Pacific Oceania will have a bye tomorrow, Thursday 16th September but will then play their final Pool B Match against Qatar on Friday. This is a “must-win” match to make the Promotional Play-Offs on Saturday. The Winner of Pool A will Play the 2nd Places Team in Pool B and the Winner of Pool B will play the 2nd placed team in Pool C