Ireland relegated to third tier of Davis Cup with defeat to Syria

Ireland have been relegated to Group III of the Davis Cup after a 3-2 defeat to Syria in Limerick.

Confirmation of the drop from the second tier after four years came on Sunday afternoon with Michael Agwi’s singles loss to Taym Al Azmeh that made it 3-1 to the visitors. 

Agwi is only recently back from injury and for long spells struggled to show his best on home soil.

The contrast with his form and his energy when he shone in an Ireland team that lost here to Austria back in 2024, and in subsequent Davis Cups ties, was stark.

His second singles reversal of the tie came on the back of an agonising doubles defeat for his team earlier in the second day.

Ireland’s weekend had started badly on Saturday with Agwi losing his first singles match in straight sets to Hazem Naw who sits 286 places below him on the official rankings. Again, that was Agwi’s first game in two months post-injury.

Peter Buldorini had restored parity overnight with a tight 7-6 6-4 defeat of Taym Al Azmeh, despite bad cramping in the second set.

Day two got going in a much more straightforward style, at first, with the doubles combo of Barry and Gannon rifling their way to a 6-1 opening set against the same two Syrian opponents as the day before.

Barry, a local boy following in his brother Sam’s footsteps by making his Davis Cup debut, led Ireland on to court to the tune of The Cranberries and ate up the support from the crowd throughout much of what followed.

Gannon set the tone with a pair of aces to start, and they broke the Syrians twice while holding comfortably both times to establish a 4-0 buffer, finally winning that set 6-1 with a triumphant Barry smash and confident turn and roar to the home crowd.

Syria hit back in the second, breaking Gannon’s serve to go 2-0 in front and seeing it out 6-3 from there. The third progressed on an even keel with both pairs holding serve all the way through and Syria saving two match points in the tenth.

Ireland’s Michael Agwi in action against Taym Alazmeh of Syria on day two of the Davis Cup World Cup Group II play-off match at UL Arena. Pic: Thomas Flinkow/Sportsfile

The tie break was just as tight and tense with the turn reached at 3-apiece and the ending coming on Syria’s first match point as Gannon’s weak second serve was returned with aplomb.

It left Ireland needing to win the last two singles ties but it soon became apparent that Agwi’s form had not returned overnight. Al Azmeh raced off to a 5-0 lead in the first before his opponent finally landed a game. The set finished 6-1.

The 22-year old didn’t go down without a fight.

Broken in the first game of the second set, he broke straight back, lost his serve again in the fifth, but started to find some rhythm with a string of excellent backhand winners and a greater confidence in execution coming to the net.

Holding serve in the seventh game, to stay in touch at 3-4 down, he cupped his hand to his ear three times after points and even broke out a smile at one point. The crowd responded just as he wanted but the Syrian eventually shut the game out.

That meant the tie was already over before Ammar Elamin secured another consolation point for the hosts by beating Yacoub Makzoume in straight sets.