Malta placed a creditable 8th place in the Fed Cup Europe /Africa Group III which was recently held in Cairo Egypt.
The team was made up of Elaine Genovese, Rosanne Dimech and Maria Giorgia Farrugia Sacco and led by team captain Helen Asciak. The Maltese squad was composed of a mixture of experience and youth. Elaine was participating for the fourth time in the Fed Cup having represented Malta for the first time in 2007.
It was a return to Fed Cup competition for Rosanne who brought experience to the squad having represented Malta for the first time in 2002, while Maria Giorgia Farrugia Sacco also had a very positive debut at the young age of 14.
Malta was grouped in Pool A with Morocco, Armenia, Ireland and Kenya and the Maltese opened their commitments against Ireland. Elaine Genovese and Ireland’s Sinead Lohan played a very close match which Elaine only lost in the third set 4-6 6-1 2-6. In the reverse singles, Rosanne lost 2-6 0-6 to Amy Botwell. Elaine and Rosanne recovered to win the doubles 7-6 4-6 7-5 in another close match.
On the second day Malta played against a strong Armenian team and lost 3-0.
The Maltese girls then overwhelmed Kenya convincingly, with Elaine defeating Caroline Odour 6-2 6-1 and Maria Giorgia beating Veronica Osogo Nabiwre 6-3 6-4 in her Fed Cup debut. Elaine and Rosanne then won the doubles 6-1 6-2.
The final day of the group stage saw Malta play top seeds Morocco. Elaine pulled one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when she defeated Nadia Lalami (WTA rank 502) 6-0 3-6 6-4 in an enthralling match. In the reverse singles Maria Giorgia was beaten 1-6 0-6 by Fatima El Allami while the Maltese girls also lost their doubles match 1-6 2-6.
On the final day of the tournament, Malta lost against Moldova 2-1 with Elaine beating Alina Soltanici 6-3 6-1 and Rosanne losing the reverse singles to Julia Helbet by the same scoreline. In the deciding rubber, Elaine and Rosanne were unlucky to end up on the losing side 1-6 6-3 4-6 of a balanced match to place 8th overall.
The Malta Tennis Federation is satisfied with of the achievements, results and performances displayed by the Maltese team in this year’s edition of the Fed Cup and considers that these serve as a solid foundation for future development and progress. The Federation thanked Bank of Valletta for its continued support of the national teams.