Mullingar duo helps Ireland secure Davis Cup promotion

Mullingar tennis player Simon Carr was the stand out performer on the Irish team that earned promotion to the Davis Cup World Group II by defeating Georgia in a playoff in Cyprus on Saturday.

With Ireland trailing after Osgar O’Hoisin was defeated by Aleksandre Bakshi in the first singles match, Carr defeated Aleksandere Metreveli (6-3, 6-1) to level the tie at 1-1, before joining up with doubles partner David O’Hare to see off the challenge of Bakshi and Zura Tkemaladze (6-3, 6-1) to earn the promotion for the Irish team.

The victory over Metreveli was Carr’s third consecutive singles victory in the competition. He also recorded two doubles victories with O’Hare.

The Irish team earned their place in the play-off by finishing second in their pool, which also included table toppers Monaco, Luxembourg and Malta.

Carr was Ireland’s main man throughout the tournament. In the team’s first match last Wednesday, he levelled the scores against Luxembourg by defeating Alex Knaff (6-3, 6-2) after O’Hoisin lost the opening singles match. He and O’Hare then went on to secure victory by beating Knaff and Calzi (6-3, 6-4).

The following day, he secured Ireland’s only point in the loss against Monaco by overcoming Lucas Catarina (6-4, 6-4).

His only defeated of the tournament came in the doubles match when he and O’Hare went down to (3-6, 4-6) to Romain Arneodo and Hugo Nys.

Carr (21) sat out Friday’s comprehensive 3-0 victory over Malta. His replacement was fellow Mullingar man Ammar Elamin, who was making his debut for the senior Irish team.

The 19-year-old comfortably defeated Alex Degabriele 6-1, 6-2 in the first encounter in the match to put Ireland on the road to victory.

The Mullingar connections extended to the team’s backroom staff, with former Davis Cup captain Garry Cahill playing his part.