Losing 5-0 to Denmark, Egypt was relegated to Group Level III in next year's Davis Cup, reports Ghada Abdel-Kader Egypt hosted Denmark in the Europe/Africa Zone Group Level II playoffs of the 2010 Davis Cup. In the Group Level II first round, Egypt was defeated by Cyprus 3-2 in Limassol. In the playoffs, Egypt was beaten by Denmark 5-0 in Cairo. In their previous meeting, Denmark came out 3-1. The win kept Denmark in Group Level II while Egypt dropped to Group Level III. The first day saw the first two singles matches. Denmark's 26-year-old Frederik Nielsen, ranked 259 in the world, beat Egypt's Sherif Sabri, 24, ranked 411 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Denmark's Martin Pedersen, 23, defeated Egypt's 31-year-old Karim Maamoun, ranked 401, 7-6 (4), 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 6-1. On the second day, Denmark's Thomas Kromann, 23, ranked 944 in the world, and Nielsen teamed up in doubles to defeat Maamoun and Sabri 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(5). On the third day, in the decisive game, Maamoun lost to Kroman 4-6, 3-6. After the match the Danes celebrated victory even before playing the last game which had become academic. Soren Wedege beat Sabri 7-5, 7-5. All matches were played at El-Gezira Sporting Club in Cairo from 9-11 July. "From the technical side, the performance of the Egyptian players was way below the Danes," the president of the Egyptian Tennis Federation (ETF) Israa El-Sanhouri said. "This was obvious in the two singles matches. Sherif Sabri and Karim Maamoun missed several chances to close the gap in their matches." El-Sanhouri said that following the tie, she will discuss with Egypt's captain Mustafa Abdel-Naim and the technical committee the reasons behind the defeat and what would be the future plan so that it doesn't happen again. "I'm very disappointed but we must continue and work on our weak points. There is a new aspiring generation like Karim Maamoun and Mohamed Safwat who participated for the first time in the Davis Cup." Nielsen told Al-Ahram Weekly, "I believe on Friday and Saturday we had very big performances. I thought we did it at a high level. We were very impressive, professionals and very focused. I was really pleased about that. We were lucky to get away with two singles matches because it was so close. It gives us a lot of confidence going with the doubles. It was one of the best performances I have ever been part of. "It feels great when you win Davis Cup matches. It's the best feeling. As a team we were working for these matches for a very long time. It has been many months focusing on these matches and we preformed well," added Nielsen. Egypt first played the Davis Cup in 1929. Its best performance was reaching the Europe/ Africa Zone Group I semi-finals, which it achieved in 1982 and 1985. Denmark's first Davis Cup appearance was back in 1921. It was a quarter-finalist in 1988 and also reached the Europe Zone final in 1927, 1950 and 1953. The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team competition in sport. One of the cornerstones of the tennis year, this prestigious event gives players the chance to represent their country in an otherwise individual sport. Founded by Dwight Davis in 1900, the Davis Cup began as a challenge match between the United States and the British Isles, which was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston in the US. Davis himself played in the inaugural Davis Cup tie, steering his country to the first of many title victories. The US has won the Davis Cup 32 times, more than any other nation. BNP Paribas replaced NEC as title sponsor of the event in 2002 after joining the Davis Cup family as an international sponsor in 2001. Entering the 2010 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas were 133 countries, with the leading 16 nations contesting the World Group.
