Painful defeat of Orange tennis players against Spain | Tennis

And so Elise Tamaëla had a very disappointing debut as captain. The former coach of the retired Kiki Bertens is the successor of Paul Haarhuis, who had the Dutch women under his wing from 2014 to last year. Due to the defeat, the Orange can forget a spot at the prestigious Finals.

Things didn’t look promising after the first day after defeats by Lesley Pattinama-Kerkhove against Sorribes Tormo (4-6, 3-6) and Russian against Nuria Parrizas Diaz (2-6, 6-7 (4)). women did not win a set, especially for Russian, because she was unable to convert a 5-1 lead in the second set.

Dramatic start on Saturday

For around 750 spectators in the Bossche Maaspoort, the Russians did not fare much better a day later. The 31-year-old South Holland did what she could, but had no answer to the varied game of her smart opponent. Within half an hour she lost the first set 6-0 without a game win.

Captain Elise Tamaëla tries to give Russian courage on Friday.

AMP/HH

The crowd got behind her in the second set. The fans present realized that Rus could use some support now that total humiliation threatened. It was equal until 2-2. A cleverly played rally by the Spanish and a forehand error by the Dutch then ensured that Rus was left behind again.

Kiki Bertens

With some very hard forehands, the number 74 in the world still broke back, but with a 4-5 score, Rus had to hand in her service game again and it was immediately over. A bitter disappointment for Rus, who had imagined more of her role as a leader as successor to Bertens.

Play off

The Orange now has to secure a place in the world group in a play-off game. If successful later this year, they can try again next year to reach the lucrative dessert of the season