team last night.

Overcoming injuries to two of their players, Bermuda yesterday captured the Island's first Americas Zone Group II victory, sweeping their tie with Antigua/Barbuda 3-0 to wrap up the week-long competition in the Dominican Republic.

Kim Simmons, her shoulder held together with tape, typified the effort when she was reduced to serving underhand in battling to a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Francine Harvey in the opening match.

Debra Darrell followed by routing Niki Williams 6-3, 6-0 -- then teamed up with Kelly Holland to win the doubles 6-1, 6-1 over a Williams/Harvey partnership.

Bermuda were forced to go without the fourth member of the team, Danielle Paynter, whose elbow injury also cost her an appearance in Saturday's 3-0 loss to El Salvador.

The win helped put a pleasant spin on a week that had seen Bermuda lose their previous six ties, posting an 0-18 mark in matches in the process. Last year -- their first year in Fed Cup -- they won just one match and went into this year's competition with considerably higher hopes.

"It's a matter of conditioning; that's about the only excuse I can give,'' said team captain and coach Jerome Bradshaw.

"We really have to do a lot more if we want to be competitive at this level.'' Bradshaw called on Island players to compete in as many tournaments as possible and on the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association to arrange for more events abroad.

"We have the potential,'' he said. "Athletes in Bermuda are versatile and they're energetic, so there's no reason why they can't excel in tennis.'' At 16, Paynter is considered the future of Bermuda's Fed Cup effort but injury -- diagnosed by a trainer in the Dominican Republic as tennis elbow -- knocked her out of the final two ties. She was pencilled in to play doubles yesterday but was scratched 20 minutes before the match.

Simmons aggravated a shoulder ailment in Saturday's 6-3, 4-6, 0-6 loss to Annette Falkenberg.

And in the second set yesterday she was forced to serve underhand, relying on experience to keep the ball in play while trying to force her opponent into mistakes.

Bradshaw said the injuries were predictable because the team played every day from Monday and practised nearly as much.

Also on Saturday Darrell lost to 2-6, 2-6 to El Salvador's Ingrid Gonzalez, who teamed up with Carolina Molins to beat Darrell and Holland 2-6, 2-6 in doubles. Gonzalez and Falkenberg are both ranked by the WTA, leading to El Salvador's top seeding heading into the tournament. But Uruguay took the top spot and advanced to Group I next year.