THE IRELAND women's tennis team, competing this week in the Federation Cup in Turkey, were beaten 3-0 by Yugoslavia in Antalya, Turkey yesterday.
It was the key match in the European qualifying group and defeat was difficult to take for the Irish players, who had arrived at this stage with an unblemished record, having beaten Tunisia, Algeria and Iceland.
The match against Cameroon today is only of academic interest following yesterday's disappointment.
Irish team captain Peter Lowther had no complaints about the effort put in by his players. "They did their best but were about 10 per cent off the pace," he said.
Lengthy lay-offs through injury and foot surgery, in the case of the Irish number one Gina Niland, and illness, in the case of Karen Nugent, finally proved deciding factors according to Lowther.
The Irish team failed to win a set. Karen Nugent lost 2-6, 4-6 to Sandra Nacuk, Niland went down 2-6, 2-6 to Dragana Zaric, while in doubles, Nugent and Lesley O'Halloran were ousted by Ljiljana Nanusevic and Zaric 3-6, 4-6.
O'Halloran will be rested today because Lowther suspects she aggravated rib damage. Zara Wolseley is therefore likely to get a match.
