2013 Potter Cup

Seeded second to host Spain, the USIC team had high hopes when they arrived at the Real Club of Barcelona to sweep Belgium, 7-0, in the first match of the 41st annual Potter Cup competition. In the semifinal round, the USIC faced a strong French team featuring both the current national champion and former top 100 ATP professional Gerald Solves, among a host of other very talented players.

France jumped out to a 3-0 lead in less than an hour. As the US No. 1 and No. 2 singles players took the court, the situation looked grim. However, US No. 2 Mario Tabares made quick work of his opponent putting the US on the scoreboard. At No. 1 singles things took a turn for the worse when American Eoin Collins strained a calf muscle at 4-3 in the first set. Fighting through great adversity, Collins brought the US to within one point with a thrilling victory. Trailing now 3-2 at the conclusion of singles play, the American squad took the courts needing to sweep both doubles matches to advance to the Sunday championship match. Playing No. 1 doubles, Carl Clark and Eoin Collins, limping noticeably, secured the US third point with a straight set win. With the match tied, US captain Bruce Lipka needed his No. 2 team of Joey Rive and Mario Tabares to find a way past a very talented French duo. Nearly two hours later, Tabares held serve up a set and 5-4 to advance the American squad.

Setting up a Sunday final against the Spanish IC for the second year in a row, the American team was in position to win the Potter Cup. However, the day belonged to the Spanish team who earned a hard fought 4-1 victory over an injury-riddled team USA.   

When the IC Spain team led by David de Miguel and captained by Miguel Mir successfully defended the Potter Cup, Spain joined France as the only two nations ever to win three titles in a row on two separate occasions. Spain has now won all but three editions of the tournament since 2002. 

IC teams from eight nations participated including the USA, Great Britain, France and Spain, which have been involved in the competition since its inception. Rounding out the field were teams from Ireland, Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Potter Cup results
US def Belgium 7-0
US def France 4-3
Spain def US 4-1
Second place finish

2013 Potter Cup Draw

2013 Potter Cup Teams