17 year old secures Cyprus place in Davis Cup

Cyprus secured Davis Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group II participation in 2014, after Petros Chrysochos defeated Magloire Yakpa 6-1, 6-1, 6-0, to help his side claim a 3-2 victory over Benin on Sunday, at the National Tennis Centre in Nicosia.

“I felt much more pressure than I did on Friday, but fortunately everything went well and we won,” said Chrysochos who turned 17 yesterday.

After winning the doubles on Saturday alongside Rares Cuzdriorean, Baghdatis was advised to pull out of Sunday’s reverse singles as a precaution, having recently been sidelined with a right shoulder injury.

Had he played, Baghdatis would have had the chance to equal Bjorn Borg’s record of 33 successive Davis Cup singles victories.

He was replaced in the fourth rubber by doubles partner Cuzdriorean, who managed to take only one set from Benin’s top nominee Alexis Klegou 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 and it was down to Chrysochos to keep Cyprus afloat.

Cypriot number one Baghdatis was pleased with his teammates’ performance on the final day: “This is not only an important day because we won, it is also very important for Petros and all other promising players,” he said. “I am 28 years old and it is great to see that we have a bright future ahead of us.”

“It’s really positive to see that the new generation did the job for Cyprus as Baghdatis has done over so many years,” assessed national team captain Nickolas Papadopoulos.

Cyprus only began playing  in the Davis Cup in 1985.

The country’s best performance to date came in 2009, when it reached the final round of the Europe/Africa Zone Group II.

Cyprus Mail

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