Rican side in their opening Federation Cup match in El Salvador yesterday.

Tari Toro of Puerto Rico opened the tie with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat of Bermuda's Danielle Paynter and sister Mari Toro followed her to the victory circle, surviving a tense affair against Zara DeSilva, 6-4, 6-3.

Mari then teamed with Edna Vasquez to beat the Bermudian tandem of Tara Lambert and Danielle Downey 6-1, 6-3 in the doubles.

Bermuda's coach and team captain, Kelly Holland, was encouraged despite the loss, noting that the local women had performed admirably against perhaps the toughest opponents they'll face in the group, which also includes Jamaica and Guatemala.

"We had a good day, we lost, but everybody played very well,'' said Holland, herself a former Fed Cup player. "They were definitely not outclassed today.

"They made a good showing, had great team spirit, gave a hundred percent, never got down on themselves, were positive...that was a really tough country to play against -- perhaps the toughest in the group -- and they really did well.'' The Puerto Ricans were generally more consistent and stronger with their service games and were more successful on the longer rallies and tight points, said Holland. Yesterday's matches were played under wilting heat and this proved to the benefit of Puerto Rico, as they appeared more comfortable in 80-plus degree heat and high humidity that pervaded the Maya Country Club.

Today sees Bermuda taking on either Jamaica or Guatemala at the same venue and Holland was confident that a similar effort as displayed against Puerto Rico would reap victory.

"We have very good chances there,'' added Holland. "If they play as well as they did today we'll definitely win one of those matches or both.

"The mood of the team is very good. They pinpointed some things they needed to work on and we went out there afterwards and worked on them, so they're being very positive.''