The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It took a marathon three set for the youthful Kevin Major Jr to dispose of veteran Marvin Rolle in the final of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s final trials for the Davis Cup team.

In an epic showdown before a spare crowd of spectators, the 21-year-old Major needed approximately three hours and 30 minutes to pull off the gruelling 5-7, 7-6 (11-9), 6-4 win over the 32-year-old Rolle at the National Tennis Centre yesterday.

“This match was very exciting, one of the better matches that I played in a long time,” Major said. “After I lost the first set, I knew it wasn’t over, so I just kept plugging and when I had my chances, I took them.

“I was up a break in the second and I lost my serve as I went down 6-5, but I still had enough to pull it off in the tie breaker. Once I got to the third, I knew it was going to be anyone’s match.”

Rolle said it was in December when he played against Rodney Carey that he was challenged by one of the youngsters as he was by Major. But he remembered going down with a shoulder injury and he couldn’t complete the match against Carey. This time, he was determined to play it to the end against Major.

“I never believed this time will come, but I remember when I was young and I was looking up to Mark (Knowles) and Roger (Smith) as the old guys,” Rolle said. “Now the role has switched and it’s interesting how time has changed. It’s fun and it’s good to still be able to go out there and compete with these young guys.”

By virtue of reaching the final out of a field of eight competitors, Major and Rolle will be added to the team that is already comprised of brothers Spencer and Baker Newman, who had a classic sibling duo in the final of the Giorgio Baldacci Tennis Tournament in December at the NTC.

The quartet will now prepare to travel to Bolivia for the American Zone III Davis Cup Tie July 1-16.

Major, although he participated on the Davis Cup team last year, was unseeded, but prevailed as the top player out of pool A, which included Rodney Carey, Jody Turnquest and Shannon Francis.

Rolle, the player/captain from last year, emerged as the top player out of pool B, which featured Justin Lunn, Donte Armbrister and William ‘JJ’ Fountain.

Both Major and Rolle advanced to the final undefeated from the series of matches played over the weekend and it was obvious that the bill up was geared towards a keenly contested match.

As it turned out, Rolle got the only break to secure the final game for a 7-5 win in the first set.

However, things changed in the second set as Major got a break to go ahead 4-3. Rolle responded with another break to tie the score at 5-5 as Major double faulted.

Using his wealth of experience, Rolle rallied from a 0-40 deficit to hold serve on advantage and Major held on serve as well to force the tie breaker.

Neither player was able to get up more than a point on each other in the extra period until Major broke away from a 9-9 margin to seal the deal.

Then in the third and final set, Rolle broke for a 2-1 lead as Major double faulted. But Major regained his composure and got the break back for a 2-2 tie. They played even at 4-4 before Major’s youthfulness prevailed as he held and broke Rolle 6-4 for the win.

“Marvin is one of the smartest players I’ve ever played against,” Major said. “He doesn’t allow you to play your game. He’s very smart. He tries to speed it up, but I tried to slow it down and extend the points as long as I could.”

Rolle, who rebounded from a slight ankle twist in the fifth game of the third set, said it was a good match, one that he enjoyed.

“The first set was okay, but as the second set came around, the points started to get more interesting,” he said. “There was a little more physical movement and we went right down the wire in the tie breaker. I think that pushed us to the limit because in the third set, we just played through it.”

BLTA president Elsworth Donaldson commended both players for their outstanding play in the tournament.

“The finalists played very well throughout their pool and in the final, I think they played one of the better matches that we have seen in the Bahamas for a very long time,” he said. “These guys went three sets blow for blow right down to the wire. It was three hours of high quality tennis, so it showed that the men’s tennis is on the rise.”

Donaldson said he’s confident that their addition to the team will be an added plus. He said they hope to get the team into Bolivia at least a week in advance so that they can get acclimatised. He said the goal is to get out of zone III.

“With the talent that we have on this team, we should definitely be moving onto zone II this year,” he said. “The Newman brothers are in Spain right now and they will fly from there to Bolivia, while Marvin and Kevin will train here until they travel.”

Rolle said he’s now looking forward to travelling to Bolivia for the Davis Cup tie and especially in their quest to climb out of zone III after playing there for the past eight years.

“We have two new guys playing. They are collegiate players and they are doing very well,” he said. “Hopefully we can do well this year and moved up to zone II.”

As for Davis Cup, Major said it’s been very tough playing in South America because of the altitude.

“The ball speeds through the air because of the altitude,” he said. “So you have to stick around and take your chances. But if we can play as well as we played in the past, I think with the team that we have, we will be able to pull it off.”

Ceron Rolle served as the tournament director and he noted that despite the small field of players who participated, it turned out very well.

“The guys played very well. Their attitude was very positive,” he said. “They showed me to be very disciplined and how the younger players should play the game. It was very well. We just wish the two players can go on and help the Bahamas to get out of zone III in Bolivia.”