BERMUDA'S Davis Cup history has been something of a roller-coaster ride, since their first appearance in the competition.

Two promotions and two relegations since their 1995 debut in the competition have ensured that life has never been less than interesting for the team.

And the island has come a long way since their baptism of fire in the Dominican Republic in what is the world championship of men's team tennis.

On that occasion, the team of Michael Way, the late Billy Way, Donald Evans and Steve Bean lost all of their four round-robin ties by a 3-0 scoreline and so failed to win a single rubber.

Painful though the whitewash in Santo Domingo may have been, it proved to be a springboard to better things.

In 1997, thanks to the efforts of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association, Bermuda hosted the American Zone Group IV competition - and won it.

Victories over Costa Rica and the Organisation or Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) on the Southampton Princes courts in front a raucous and partisan crowd propelled the island into Group III.

The team of Ricky Mallory, Michael Way, James Collieson and Donald Evans dealt smartly with the pressure that comes with being the host nation.

But the following year the same foursome found Group III too hot to handle. They did manage one victory in Bolivia, 2-1 against Panama, but that was not enough to avoid relegation straight back to Group IV.

The team went down fighting however, as James Collieson battled Puerto Rico's Gilberto Rivera and cramp attacks in an epic singles clash that lasted three hours and 44 minutes before falling 7-5, 2-6, 10-8.

In 1999, in Trinidad, Bermuda's team of Mallory, Way, Jenson Bascome and Dean Mello got off to a flying start in their attempt to regain their Group III status at the first attempt.

A 3-0 whitewash of Barbados and and a 2-1 win against OECS gave them a 100 percent record before their rest day.

But despite the heroic efforts of Mallory, who won four of his five singles rubbers, Bermuda lost their remaining four ties and ended up with Mallory and Way injured.

In 2000, it all came right for non-playing captain Steve Bean's team in Honduras. Mallory, Collieson, Bascome and Mello won five of their six ties, losing only to the host nation.

Victories over St. Lucia, Barbados, the US Virgin Islands, the OECS and Antigua earned Bermuda promotion.

Their triumph was all the more remarkable in that key player Mallory woke up with stiff muscles on the morning of the first tie against a strong St. Lucia team.

Young Jenson Bascome, then 20, was thrown into the fray and won his singles rubber in straight sets, setting the tone for a tough week of six ties in six days in the fierce Central American heat.

Bermuda had proved once more they were too good for Group IV, but in Havana, Cuba, in 2001, they proved once again they were not good enough for Group III.

The team of Collieson, Mallory, Bascome and Evans lost all five of their ties against opponents who were able to field full-time players.

There were more encouraging singles performances from Collieson, but Bermuda's only success came in the doubles rubber won by Mallory and Evans against Bolivia.

Last year saw some promising youngsters blooded in St. Vincent as two 16-year-olds, Jovan Whitter and Ryan Swan joined Collieson and Bascome in the team.

Steve Bean's team, using only Collieson and Bascome, won their first two ties against the US Virgin Islands and OECS, both by 2-1.

The two teenagers were given a first taste of Davis Cup tennis in the final doubles rubber and acquitted themselves well in a 6-3, 6-3 defeat. For Swan and Whitter, it was likely to be the first of many Davis Cups.