The talented Sarnian teenager has joined forces with Victoria Nicholas to good effect, claiming a couple of key victories in Doha, with the tournament scheduled to finish today.
Team GB were given a tough group draw at the start of the week, being placed in the same pool as top seeds Spain, who have so much strength in depth that the world No 12 did not make their eight-woman squad. Brazil and Germany made up the rest of the group.
The Brits started their campaign against Brazil and suffered a 3-0 defeat, but de la Mare and Nicholas came agonisingly close to claiming the third rubber as they resumed their fruitful partnership from September’s European qualifying event in Madrid, up against Brazil’s third pair Fernanda Abarzua Branchi and Helena Rousselet Novillo.
There were two breaks of serve apiece in the opening set which went to a closely contested tie-break which the Brazilians snatched 8-6.
But Nicholas and 16-year-old de la Mare were brilliant in the second set which they took 6-3. The young Guernseywoman was unflappable as Brazil repeatedly froze out Nicholas and targeted her in the vast majority of rallies.
Although the Brits broke in the first game of the deciding set, fortunes were quickly reversed as Brazil won the next four games.
At 5-3 down, Nicholas and De la Mare saved a match ball, then got the match back on serve by breaking in the next game.
In a lengthy 10th game, the Brits bravely saved second, third and fourth match points, but five was to prove too much as Brazil eventually sealed the opening day’s last match 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 42 minutes.
De la Mare was not involved in Tuesday’s 3-0 defeat to the might of Spain, the nine-time women’s world champions who have won the last six consecutive titles, but she made her presence felt alongside Nicholas when they joined forces once more on Wednesday against Germany, who had pulled off a surprise 2-1 win over Brazil the previous day which meant GB needed a 3-0 victory to overhaul them and grab third spot.
The Sarnian and her partner were first up and set the tone by breaking Celina Ermann and Alissa Schmitz world in the Germans’ first two service games.
Although Ermann and Schmitz got a break back, the Brits held their nerve and took the opening set with a trademark Nicholas smash.
Another lightning start to set two saw Nicholas and De la Mare secure another two early breaks and they pressed the accelerator down even harder thereafter to seal a brilliant 6-4, 6-0 win.
Catherine Rose and Aimee Gibson doubled Team GB’s lead with 6-2, 6-2 success, then Abigail Tordoff and Lisa Phillips held their nerve in the third match to hit back from a set down to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 and send GB into the ninth-16th play-offs.
Having secured a third-placed finish in Group A courtesy of their victory over Germany, GB had the advantage of playing a fourth-placed team in the opening round of the back draw on Thursday.
That team was Egypt, who gave Libby Fletcher’s side a stern test, with Nicholas and de la Mare winning the decisive third match 6-4, 6-3 to get GB over the line after the opening two ties were shared.
Rose and Gibson had put GB ahead, dropping just a single game in the opening rubber, but Tia Norton and Laura Jackson were then beat in three sets by Mayar Tawfik and Laila El Nimr.
However, de la Mare and Nicholas who have been so impressive this week, were on their mettle once again, producing a polished performance in defeating Nour Faidallah and Farida El Halaby 6-4, 6-3 to secure the 2-1 team victory, to set up a clash with the USA yesterday in the next round.
The play-offs conclude today.
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