Guam has made a losing start to their debut appearance in the Fed Cup women's tennis competition.
The US Territory was swept 3-0 by the Philippines yesterday in their opening tie at the Asia/Oceania Group Two event in Wellington, New Zealand.
Nadine Del Carmen, Katrina Lai, Charlayne Espinosa and team captain Sam Lai. Photo: Vinnie Wylie/RNZ Pacific
Katrina Lai was beaten 6-3 6-2 in the opening singles rubber against Anna Clarice Patrimonio before Nadine Del Carmen was dispatched 6-0 6-4 by Marian Jade Capadocia.
The duo were then outclassed 6-0 6-1 in the doubles.
Guam number one Nadine Del Carmen battles the Wellington wind out in court. Photo: Vinnie Wylie/RNZ Pacific
Despite failing to take a set off their opponents, Guam captain Sam Lai was encouraged by their first-up performance.
"I'm really surprised how well our girls played," he said. "There were some games we were ahead but it was a pretty windy day and you can miss a lot of easy shots but all in all I think we played better than expected."
"[The Philippines] are very good indeed and that was expected but what I wasn't expecting was how well our girls played because they don't really have that much international experience, although they play college tennis [in the United States] but this is really the toughest opponent they ever faced."
"I saw opportunities that we could have won a few more games or perhaps a set but all in all I'm pretty about the performance of our girls today," Lai said.
Charlayne Espinosa did not feature on court against the Philippines but provided plenty of support from the sideline for her two teammates.
The trio grew up together on Guam but currently reside in different parts of the USA.
The Seattle-based Espinosa said meeting up again felt "like we saw each other yesterday".
Turkmenistan lost their opening Fed Cup tie against Thailand. Photo: Vinnie Wylie/RNZ Pacific
Guam are back in action today against Turkmenistan, who were swept 3-0 by Thailand in their opening group match, and Espinosa said the aim was "to win a few matches and make their island proud".
"The main thing is to try and play our game here and the wind, of course, is such a big factor to our matches and I guess we're just trying," she said.
"Guam is pretty windy but coming here we were thinking it's just a little wind but seeing how it actually is it's a lot more windier so yeah it's definitely new to us."
Eight teams are competing in Wellington, with the top qualifier from Groups A and B to playoff for promotion to Asia/Oceania Group One on Saturday.
