yesterday as the Island's four-player squad were whitewashed 3-0 by Eastern Caribbean at the Santo Domingo Tennis Club in the Dominican Republic.

But the performance was nowhere near as bad as the result suggests with Donald Evans taking his opponent to three closely-contested sets, and the doubles pair of Steve Bean and Billy Way squandering two set points before losing their match.

Evans went down to Vernon Lewis 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 while in the other singles Michael Way was stunned 6-2, 6-2 by Gavaska Williams. In the doubles, Bean and Billy Way were beaten 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 by John Maginly and Henri Sinson.

Playing under a blazing hot sun on clay courts made soft by three days of rain, Bermuda, according to coach David Lambert, found the conditions "very difficult.'' But he added: "Despite the result, we weren't blown away today. We held our own. Two of the matches could have gone either way.'' Lambert and captain Allan Simmons both had high praise for Evans who bounced back from a first set loss to win the second and then narrowly lose the decider.

"That match could have gone either way,'' said Simmons. "Donald was slow to get going, but once he started getting to the net he played very well.'' Michael Way, meanwhile, came up against an opponent who Simmons said would prove to be one of the best in the tournament. "Michael normally likes to control the pace of the game, but he couldn't do that today. This guy was very tough.'' As for Bean and Billy Way they twice held set point in the first set before losing a tense tie-breaker 8-6 and an equally close second set 6-4.

"Again this could have gone either way,'' added Simmons. "I spoke to the Eastern Caribbean coach afterwards and he agreed 3-0 was a flattering scoreline.

"He certainly believed our players will hold their own in the rest of the tournament. And he thought Eastern Caribbean were one of the strongest teams here.'' Said Lambert: "The heat affected everyone today. I was even feeling it on the side.

"But we were competitive today. Eastern Caribbean have been in the Davis Cup for five years. This was our first ever match, it's all about experience.

"This is a high level of tennis. And no way we were outclassed today.'' Bermuda's next match is tomorrow against what is expected to be a tough Puerto Rico team.

STEVE BEAN -- partnered Billy Way in yesterday's Davis Cup doubles against Eastern Caribbean. The Bermuda pair were narrowly beaten 7-6, 6-4.