Preview | Ireland v Syria

Ireland hope to retain status in Group II against competitive Syrian side

By Stephen Higgins | February 6th 2026

The Irish Davis Cup team will hope to retain their status in Group II this weekend by beating Syria in a play-off at the UL Sport Arena. Conor Niland’s side must succeed to survive at this rung of the international ladder after a 3-1 defeat to China last September.

For the tie with Syria, Ireland’s team sees one change from the last outing with veteran doubles specialist David O’Hare replaced by Charlie Barry. Barry, who hails from Limerick, makes his debut in the Davis Cup after knocking more than 1,000 places off his doubles ranking in 2025.

Captain Conor Niland has selected the 24-year-old (321 in doubles) alongside Irish no.1 Michael Agwi (673), Peter Buldorini (978), Conor Gannon (878 in doubles) and Ammar Elamin (1397 in doubles).

Agwi earned Ireland’s sole point in the defeat to China and finished the 2025 season with a quarter-final showing at an ITF M25 in Czechia. As for Buldorini, who made his Davis Cup debut against the Chinese, the 21-year-old has started 2026 with a third round run at an M25 in Germany. Meanwhile, Gannon has had a particularly bright start to the new year as he surged to the doubles final of an M15 in Spain.

Michael Agwi strikes a forehand at the 2026 Irish Open

Syria, who are captained by Robert Makzoume, were promoted from Group III last summer after finishing second to Indonesia in the Group B section. The side finished with a 3-1 record and will hope to return to Group II for the first time since 2013. Makzoume has selected Hazem Naw, Taym Al Azmeh, Yacoub Makzoume, Rabee Saleem and Amer Naow for the trip to Munster.

The Syrian side has traditionally been spearheaded by Naw, who is the country’s highest-ranked singles player at no.1260 though he spent time inside the ATP’s top 300 in 2024. Naw was born in Aleppo and has an older brother, Amer, who also represented Syria in the Davis Cup.

Like Agwi, Naw has competed in the German Bundesliga and has recorded victories over former top 60 players Oscar Otte and Arthur Rinderknech. The 26-year-old has a formidable 14-2 singles record in the Davis Cup and his performances will be crucial to the visitor’s chances.

The other stalwart for the visiting team is Al Azmeh, who plays college tennis for Michigan State and hit a career high ranking of 719 in July 2024. The 21-year-old has a positive 9-6 record in Davis Cup, with five of those wins coming in singles.

Agwi is set to open the contest at midday on Saturday against Naw in the first singles rubber. They will be followed by Buldorini against Al Azmeh in what could be a very tight, and crucial battle. Sunday starts with the doubles rubber between Barry/Gannon and Naw/Al Azmeh, followed by Agwi against Al Azhmeh and Buldorini against Naw if required.

It is the first meeting between Ireland and Syria in the Davis Cup, and none of the singles competitors have faced each other on tour before.

It will be the first Davis Cup tie played at UL since the highly enjoyable - if one-sided - defeat to a high profile Austrian team in 2024. Having rejoined Group II in 2022, Ireland will hope to extend their stay in the division in front of a similarly raucous Limerick crowd.

This article was written in partnership with Tennis Ireland.

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