Bermuda's men's tennis team suffered a 3-0 hammering at the hands of a powerful Cuba outfit as their Davis Cup campaign got off to a losing start in Havana yesterday.

But the Island team finished off the day in optimistic mood after a brave performance in the doubles rubber by Jenson Bascome and Ricky Mallory, who went down three sets to two in an epic struggle.

Before then, however, the host nation had already won the tie by taking both the singles matches in emphatic fashion.

James Collieson and Donald Evans were well beaten by opponents who play full time in the Caribbean and South America, and Bermuda's one and two won just four games between them in on-court temperatures of more than 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The match marked Bermuda's return to American Zone Group Three after they won promotion from Group Four last year. And it was a brutal example of the gulf in class between the two divisions.

Under the best-of-five short sets experimental rules, Collieson was trounced 4-0, 4-1, 4-0, as opponent Ricardo Chile produced a near faultless performance.

Although the score was a little harsh on the 23-year-old Bermudian, who battled hard to the end and fought out some long rallies with his talented opponent, Chile appeared to have no weaknesses to exploit.

Evans fared only slightly better against Lazaro Navarro and went down to a 4-1, 4-0, 4-2 defeat.

The wily Navarro returned to the court later in the day and partnered Sandor Martinez to a thrilling victory over Bascome and Mallory, 4-5, 4-2, 1-4, 4-1, 4-0.

The Bermudian duo ran out of steam after a rousing performance against the full timers which lifted the spirits of the captain, team-mates and the small contingent of noisy Bermuda fans in the stands at the Complejo Deportivo.

Collieson said after going down to the classy Chile: "He was a very good player and he was just really consistent, but I think the match was closer than the score suggests.

"He moved really well and it was virtually impossible to hit a winner, because the court was so slow and he was able to get to everything.

"I had to hit one or two more shots to win the point than I am used to and I was feeling the effects of that. My heart was beating really fast after some points and I haven't had that feeling in a long time playing at school.'' Collieson said it was tough to play against players, who though not on the ATP Tour, are playing full-time in the highly developed Cuban government sports programme.

"These guys are playing full-time and if Bermuda really wants to compete at Group Three level, we have to find a way to do the same with our players,'' said the University of North Carolina student.

Before the first match, all eight teams participating marched out onto the show court and Mallory had the honour of carrying the Bermudian flag.

A huge effort by tournament organisers saw an immaculate small stadium appear around the court in the space of 24 hours. But a strangely muted and small home crowd attended.

Collieson was first on and from the moment his serve was broken to 30 in the opening game, he was fighting an uphill battle.

Although the tournament is being played on hard courts, the first match resembled a clay-court battle, with long, gruelling rallies. That was partly because of the combination of the slow surface of the freshly painted centre court and the experimental, larger balls, which take the sting out of shots as the balls move more slowly through the air.

Chile romped through the first set, hitting powerful groundstrokes off both backhand and forehand sides, and made regular forays to the net pay off with some fine volleying.

But Collieson got on the scoreboard in the first game of the second set, overcoming a dreadful call which cost him a game point before he eventually held serve.

Evans, a tall serve-and-volleyer, took time to get into his rhythm and like Collieson, was broken in a first game that included two double faults.

Although Evans held his next service game, the short sets allowed him little time to fight back and he lost the first set 4-1.

Although the steady Navarro ran away with the second set, 4-0, Evans bounced back to make a fight of the third.

His big serve started to hit the target enabling him to attack the net more frequently, and he when he produced three service winners in succession to win the fourth game from 30-40 down and tie the set at 2-2, Evans' hopes were raised.

But Navarro once more raised his game to polish off the last two games of the set and with them, the match.

Mallory and Bascome registered Bermuda's first set of the tournament after they produced a battling response to a highly controversial point.

With 21-year-old Bascome serving to save the set at 3-4 and on game point, he hit a service winner down the middle. The umpire awarded the game to Bermuda.

But then the Cuban captain, who felt the serve had been out, got up and harrangued the Cuban match official. The umpire then changed his mind and awarded a let to be played and the distracted Bascome hit a double fault.

The noticeably annoyed Bermuda duo then channelled their collective energy into their tennis, lifted their game and won the game and the tie-breaker which followed it, 7-4.

After losing the second set 4-2, the pair upped their game again in the third set. In the fourth game, Bascome hit one of several delightfully disguised topspin lobs to earn a break point and then the same player hit a scorching forehand return to break the Martinez serve.

Mallory's solid serve held firm once more to serve out the set, 4-1, and leave them within a set of victory.

But then, the errors which had been coming off the racket of Martinez started to turn into winners and simultaneously, the Bermudian pair seemed to run out of steam.

The Cubans stormed through the final two sets 4-1, 4-0, but the Island team will take heart from their efforts.

Cuba were expected to be Bermuda's strongest opponents this week, but today they face another huge test against Jamaica and tomorrow they will take on Bolivia.

Jamaica defeated Bolivia 3-0 in yesterday's other Group B match, while i Group A, El Salvador beat Honduras 2-1 and Puerto Rico beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0.

Donald Evans: Beaten in straight sets by Cuba's Lazaro Navarro.