Bermuda?s number one tennis player James Collieson admits the Island team is struggling to keep up with their Davis Cup opponents.

The four-man team came fifth out of the six nations in the Americas Zone Group IV tournament last week winning just three rubbers and only avoiding the wooden spoon on the last day of competition.

Although Bermuda had chances to win more matches, the week-long illness that struck number two player Jensen Bascome did little to aid the team?s cause.

?It was hard down there,? said Collieson, who won just one singles and one doubles during his five days of continuous tennis action.

?The conditions were pretty bizarre. It was high altitude ? about 1300 metres ? and the air was pretty thin and it was a little windy. No-one really got into their rhythm, and some of the other teams had that problem too.

?There was a lot of should haves and could haves during the week but overall I think a lot of the other teams are building up and getting stronger while we are struggling just to maintain our level.

?There were a few new faces down there from some of the other countries who were pretty strong and other sides are getting stronger all the time.

?It is difficult for us because we are very isolated here and the tournaments we play in Bermuda are not as high a standard as the other guys play in.

?We do have some of our guys playing in the States but they are not always getting enough regular tennis although Gavin (Manders) looked very polished.

?We have to make sure the players who were top juniors can make that step up now to being Davis Cup players.?

But despite concerns over the competitiveness of the team ? which only travelled to Costa Rica courtesy of 11th hour donations by Government and an anonymous Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association member ? Collieson believes it was only a fine line between success and failure for captain Steve Bean?s side.

?We had two match points in the doubles against Barbados and we could have won that game,? he added.

?And after that we had to deal with Jensen being ill which put pressure on the rest of the team and there was also the change of format that meant we had to play every day.

?If we had beaten Barbados, which I think we could have done, we would have come out with more positive energy to take into the other games.

?It is easy to say with hindsight but there were a lot of things that could have happened differently that would have helped us finish more strongly.

?For next year, we can?t expect to just pack our bags, turn up and get promoted. There has to be a serious year of progression and preparation for all the players and then I still believe we can go and compete and promotion could be a possibility.?

During the event at the Heredia resort in Costa Rica, Bermuda lost to Barbados 2-1 on the first day, followed by 3-0 defeats by Costa Rica, Guatemala and St.Lucia.

On the final day, Bermuda beat the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States 2-1 to claim fifth spot ? Guatemala and St. Lucia will be promoted to Group III for 2005.