The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association is hoping to benefit from having the presence of brothers Spencer and Baker Newman in its quest to regain its position as one of the top countries in the American Zone Davis Cup Tie.

The American duo - who have roots in the Bahamas - were introduced to the BLTA over the weekend as they made it a sibling final of the Giorgio Baldacci Tennis Tournament at the National Tennis Centre with Baker emerging as the champion with a hard fought 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Spencer.

On their way to the final, No.1 seed Baker knocked off Grand Bahamian Rodney Carey 6-3, 6-3 and No.3 seed Spencer eliminated No.2 seed Philip Major Jr 6-3, 7-5 in their semi-final matches. In their quarter-finals, Baker won 6-1, 6-3 over William ‘JJ’ Fountain, Spencer disposed of Joshua Turnquest 6-2, 6-2, Major outlasted Justin Lunn 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 and Carey got the better of Marvin Rolle, who eventually had to retire in the second set trailing 2-0 after he took the first set 7-6.

For the brothers, who were introduced to the BLTA by former Davis Cup captain John Farrington, tournament director Cereno Rolle said they were phenomenal players, whom he feels will help the programme tremendously.

“They are going to be major assets to the team and I am almost certain that they will be able to bring us to zone one with the team we have,” Rolle said. “They are going to push our top players like Rodney Carey, Philip Major and Justin Lunn.”

The BLTA used the tournament as a qualifier for the team that will represent the Bahamas at the Davis Cup Tie, scheduled for July 11-16 in La Paz. Bolivia. The Bahamas will be matched against teams from Bermuda, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Honduras, Jamaica, Panama and Trinidad & Tobago. The teams will be placed in two pools with the top two teams advancing to play for two spots to be promoted to Group II in 2017.

For the Newmans - Spencer, who played for the University of Florida men’s tennis team and Baker, who is now enrolled at Vanderbilt University in Nashville,Tennessee, they look forward to representing the Bahamas just as much as they did playing in the Bahamas for the first time and especially against each other in their first final as well.

“It was different playing against my younger brother because we had never played against each other in an official tournament setting,” said the 22-year-old Spencer, who is currently playing on the pro circuit. “There was an obvious tension of us both wanting to win, but it was good brotherly competition.”

Baker, 20, said the match transcends their life in general.

“I was very excited to play him because he is my older brother and we are competitive with almost every thing we do,” he said.

Despite winning the tournament, Baker said it doesn’t dictate who is the better player out of the two.

“Spencer was forced to take some time off due to injuries and I am training and playing college tennis,” said Baker about their potential. “In the past, we both have been successful with our tennis results and respect each other’s ability.”

As for playing in the tournament, Baker said it was all that he anticipated.

“Nothing held me back,” he said. “It was a lot of fun playing against everyone. The competition was what I expected because I knew most of the guys competing. But throughout the weekend, my closest match was against my brother Spencer.”

Likewise, Spencer was just as thrilled to be a part of the experience.

“This was my first tournament in a pretty long time and I didn’t know where my level would be, so I was happy with it,” he noted. “A good start to an upcoming season.”

Spencer said he definitely intends to peg the tournament on his calendar and he intends to go back to the United States to continue his training so that if he’s given the opportunity to play Davis Cup for the Bahamas next year, he will be fully ready.

No doubt, Baker said he and his brother will only enhance the crop of talented players in the Bahamas.

“I go back to school after the holidays and get ready for my college tennis season,” he said. “But my goal is to represent the Bahamas and help us be as successful as we can. I really want to get us out of zone 3 and bring us to zone 1. I am very excited for the future and I hope everything works out.”

If their performances in the tournament over the weekend were any indication, the BLTA could look forward to a double dose of Newmans taking the team forward in the future. The brothers are the sons of Bahamian Eric Newman.