Malta at the 2000 Davis Cup.

Introduction

The Davis Cup is considered to be the premier international tennis event for men. It is the largest annual international tennis competition. The Davis Cup is organized by the International Tennis Federation. It is played in a knock-out format. The 2000 Davis Cup was the 89th edition of this prestigious tournament. There were total 16 teams to compete in the World Group. Other 119 nations played in regional zones. They were Americas Zone, Asia/Oceania Zone and Europe/Africa Zone. The World Group consisted of a four-round knockout tournament. All regional zones were divided into four groups.

Group I and Group II played knockout tournaments. Group III and IV played round-robin tournaments with promotion and relegation. The final was played from 8th to 10th December at Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain. Malta at the 2000 Davis Cup was placed in Group III of Euro/African Zone. Malta sent following players to take part in the tournament:

Mark Schembri
Marco Cappello
Matthew Debono
Luke Bonello

Countries at the 2000 Davis Cup

The matches in Group III of Europe/Africa Zone were played in two venues. The countries that played the matches in Venue 1 were Monaco, Botswana, Georgia, Malta, Togo, Tunisia, Yugoslavia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Following countries played the matches at Venue 2: Nigeria, Armenia, Benin, Iceland, Macedonia, Madagascar, Moldova and Senegal.

Participation and Performance of Malta in the 2000 Davis Cup

Malta at the 2000 Davis Cup played the first set of matches against Georgia on 24th May. The matches were played at Tennis Club de Tunis, Tunisia. Malta had to face disappointment in these matches. Malta was defeated by Georgia in all three matches. The matches between Malta and Togo were played on 25th May. Malta again lost all three matches against Togo. Malta lost the matches against Bosnia/Herzegovina. Malta played the matches against Botswana in the 1st round on 27th May. Malta�s players showed poor performance. M. Judd from Botswana defeated M. Debono from Malta by 5-7, 6-2 and 7-5. P.

Molefe from Botswana defeated Malta�s M. Schembri by 7-6, 6-2. Botswana�s pair defeated Malta�s pair by 6-1, 0-6 and 6-3. Malta played against Tunisia in the 7th to 8th play-off round. The matches were played on 28th May. Malta�s L. Bonello defeated Tunisia�s M. Jaziri by 4-6, 6-3 and 6-2. Tunisia�s C. Jemai defeated Malta�s M. Debono by 7-5, 6-0. Tunisia�s pair defeated Malta�s pair by 6-3, 7-6. Malta at the 2000 Davis Cup showed very disappointing performance. It resulted in relegation of Malta to Group IV in 2001.