Clinical Costa Rica Cruise past Bermuda in El Salvador
Nadhira Durham & Alexcie Burrows
IslandStats.com
Bermuda’s tough run at the Billie Jean King Cup Americas Group III tournament continued in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, as a clinical Costa Rica side wrapped up a commanding 3-0 victory.
Following their agonizing 2-1 defeat to Jamaica, the Bermudian squad found themselves up against a ruthless Central American outfit that dominated across both the singles and doubles rubbers.
Costa Rica clicked into gear immediately in the opening singles clash. Allison Blanco set the tone for the tie, overcoming Bermuda's player-captain Shelby Madeiros. Despite Madeiros's trademark resilience from the baseline, Blanco took control of the crucial points to seal a 6-2, 6-1 victory in just over an hour.
Any hopes of a Bermudian fightback were swiftly dashed in the second singles rubber. Lucia Gallegos turned in a devastatingly efficient performance against Nadhira Durham, power-playing her way to a straight-sets 6-0, 6-1 victory in a match that took a mere 43 minutes to complete.
With the tie already mathematically settled, Costa Rica refused to take their foot off the gas in the deciding doubles match.
Madeiros teamed back up with Alexcie Burrows, but the duo found no answers to the sharp net play and tactical chemistry of Blanco and Ariana Rahmanparast. The Costa Rican pairing needed just 47 minutes to dispatch the Bermudians 6-1, 6-0, completing the clean sweep and leaving Bermuda searching for answers ahead of their next round-robin fixtures.
