2016 Solomon Trophy Player Report: Days 1-3
Stuart Lawrence copes with the conditions on Day 2. Photo by Eileen Soo. Click to Zoom.
On Day Four, Great Britain leads the Solomon test 15-3. Team USA's Jeff Soo has the following player report from the first three days of play:
Day One
A competitive start for Team USA in the first two doubles rounds. We finished the day 2-3 and game-all in the one unfinished match.
Day Two
With frequent and occasionally heavy showers, play was delayed for long stretches on lawns 2 and 4 because of standing water. Along with the weather, the GB squad dampened Team USA’s optimism by winning 5 of 6 of the day’s singles matches, then winning the conclusion of the unfinished doubles match from day 1. The day’s highlight for the American’s was Matthew Essick’s win over Samir Patel.
Day Three
Hopes of a miraculous comeback from 3-9 were relentlessly quashed by the Brits, in what turned into a 6-0 whitewash on the day. Team USA only managed to win 2 games and never even got close to a match-winning turn. Stephen Mulliner attempted sextuples twice, completing the first one with an improbable sequence at rover.