They are exhausted, their legs ache and one of them seems to be catching the `flu but James Collieson and Jenson Bascome are giving Bermuda the best they have got.

Speaking from St. Vincent on the lone rest day for the Davis Cup Americas Zone Group Four competition, the Island's top two tennis players expressed a determination to fight until the last serve to try to gain promotion to Group Three for Bermuda.

Having lost Wednesday's fixture against St. Lucia 2-1, they are under no illusions about the monumental odds against them. They must beat Barbados today and Bolivia tomorrow to stand any chance of graduating to a higher rung of international tennis.

"We really have our work cut out for us but it's still possible and we're not packing it in. Our loss to St. Lucia was tough because we knew that St. Lucia, Bolivia and us were probably the three strongest teams here and that would have been a huge win for us, if we had beaten St. Lucia," said Bascome.

In his fourth year at this level, the 22-year-old noted that the Caribbean's hot climate had hampered Bermuda's prospects in the tournament. Though not as adversely affected as Collieson, he succumbed, for the first time on Wednesday, to exhaustion in his singles encounter against St. Lucia's Vernon Lewis.

"That was my fifth match of the competition and by the second set I was just tired. I had not felt like that before. Coming from 50 degree weather in the United States, I guess my body just wore down," acknowledged the college student.

Collieson seconded those sentiments as he suffered from exhaustion and cramps from the outset. However, he has continued battling heroically and has savoured two doubles victories and an unforgettable singles triumph against St. Lucian Kane Easter in three sets.

"It's extremely hot. Out of all the Davis Cups (I've been to) St. Vincent seems to have the most extreme conditions. It's like Bermuda in August with a little extra. It's hard to acclimatise and my matches have all been at 12 noon in the blazing sunshine and they have been quite long. Playing doubles and singles every day really takes it toll on the body. It's our day off today and I can hardly get out of bed.

"I expend a lot of energy when I play and I sweat excessively. Even when I am just standing up I am using more energy than most people and that makes these conditions very hard to prepare for unless you fly down here three weeks beforehand to get acclimatised. It's not a question of physical fitness, it's just battling the environmental conditions," said the Island's 25-year-old top seed.

He termed Bermuda's performance thus far "a good team effort" with he and Bascome "having each other's back", one rising to the occasion when the other has not.

"When I was exhausted and tired Jenson was able to step up and then yesterday (Wednesday) I was able to pull out a win when he had lost. We put ourselves in position to beat St. Lucia but we fell short," he said.

Collieson, who has played five years of Davis Cup, praised the format change which now includes an afternoon break between the singles and doubles matches. What would have been even better, he noted, was if the day's play had started at 3 p.m. or 4 p.m. and continued into the night as the weather would have been kinder to players.

Bascome, who won his singles matches against the US Virgin Islands and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), is happy with his overall results, though he is not playing as well as he can.

"I didn't play my best tennis but I did what I had to do to win. I knew I would be playing the first match every day and I know how important it is to get a good start. I just tried to focus and stay relaxed. I had a bit of nerves but past Davis Cup campaigns helped me to overcome them and get through my matches," said the second seed.

He may have some more overcoming to do as he seems to have picked up a touch of `flu. However, he vows not to let this stand in his way as he and Collieson head back on court this morning - to continue giving Bermuda the best they have got.