The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

With the Bahamas drawn to play Venezuela in the first round of the American Zone II Davis Cup tie in February, the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association is hoping that the interest will increase for the Giorgio Baldacci Invitational Tournament.

The invitational is set for December 19-23 at the National Tennis Centre and will be mandatory for all players who are on subvention and those who wish to make the national team that will compete in the first round of the Davis Cup tie February 3-5.

While the entry deadline is set for Wednesday, December 14, BLTA president Elwood Donaldson said they anticipate that this year’s Davis Cup team of brothers Spencer and Baker Newman, Kevin Major and player/captain Marvin Rolle will all be involved in the invitational where the top four players will automatically make the team.

The Bahamas, behind the Newman brothers, pulled off a 2-0 victory over Jamaica in Bolivia to complete the tie and the promotion out of Zone III to Zone II in July.

“We are hoping that with the addition of the Newman brothers and the country moving up to Zone II, we will have more players interested in coming out,” Donaldson said. “There’s more prestige and there’s a good possibility of us moving up to Zone One, if we do very well next year.

“So we are hoping that players like Philip Major, who wasn’t there last year, will be here to participate as well as Justin Roberts, one of our top collegiate players, will also be here along with some former national team players like Rodney Carey and Devin Mullings.”

With the tie on the road, Donaldson said the Bahamas would have to do what they have to do.

“They were able to win last year in altitude in Bolivia, so I understand that Venezuela isn’t as high in altitude so our chances should be pretty good,” Donaldson said. “Our guys are prepared to go through whatever is necessary to win again. “We are planning on sending the team down early to get acclimatised, so they should be fine. We are also hoping to have a larger contingent of fans going to Venezuela than what we had in Bolivia.”

Donaldson reiterated that the invitational is a “mandatory trial” for all players wishing to make the team going to Venezuela.

“If the Davis Cup tie was later in the year like this year, we could have a further trial,” Donaldson said. “But it’s very close, so this will be the final trial. “It’s mandatory for all players on subvention and all players who wish to make the Davis Cup tie, as well as the Fed Cup team for the female players.”

The Fed Cup for the ladies will be held in July in Montevideo, Uruguay, where the Bahamas will join Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay.

The teams will be split into four pools with the winners advancing to the playoffs against the number two teams to determine which two nations will advance to Americas Zone Group I in 2018.