Costa Rica and El Salvador make Junior Davis and Fed Cup progress

Costa Rica and El Salvador are the first nations to hint at Junior Davis and Junior Fed Cup by BNP Paribas glory in 2020 after confirming their passage to the final qualifying event for the competitions.

At North/Central America and Caribbean pre-qualifying in San Salvador, Costa Rica’s boys and the girls of host nation El Salvador were the standout performers and topped their respective podiums.

Both nations will now face automatic qualifiers Canada, Mexico and USA in Montreal, Canada on 23-25 April for the chance to compete at the Finals.

The best two performing boys’ and girls’ teams in Montreal will reach the Finals, which for the second successive year are being held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida, beginning on 28 September.

Costa Rica, represented by Oscar Perez Gil, Luca Lo Nardo and Paulo Pocasangre, were in imperious form during a week of pre-qualification showdowns and rarely looked in danger of losing.

After topping Group B having conceded just two sets in three ties against Barbados, Jamaica and Guatemala, Costa Rica navigated knockout tussles with Panama, Trinidad & Tobago and latterly El Salvador.

There was a similar level of domination for El Salvador, who had Matia and Alessandra Cristiani and Valeria Guerrero within their ranks, in the Junior Fed Cup strand of pre-qualifying.

El Salvador dispatched Panama and Puerto Rico in the group stage before overpowering Cuba, Dominican Republic and Guatemala to confirm their passage to Montreal.

The eight teams competing in Montreal across both Junior Davis and Junior Fed Cup will ultimately be aiming to reach Lake Nona and emulate last year’s winners – Japan and USA – in the 16-and-under team competition.