The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER closing out the year with two contrasting performances in Florida, Jacobi Bain got some great news that can propel his career even further in 2017.

His father, Bradley Bain, confirmed that the management team has been able to secure a sponsorship withTecnifibre - a French manufacturer of sporting equipment, specialising in tennis and squash.

Tecnifibre replaces Head company, Jacobi Bain’s sponsor this year, providing him with all of his racquets and strings.

“They offered him a contract to represent them,” said Bradley Bain. “One of the reasons we decided to go with them is because they have a lot of training camps in Europe and anytime he’s in Europe, he can use their training camps because he’s a part of the Tecnifibre team.”

In addition to the racquets and strings that the young Bain will receive, Tecnifibre will also furnish him with tennis apparel to wear on the tour.

“As long as he continues to perform, they will offer him the privilege of representing them,” the older Bain said. “I think it’s a step up in the right direction.

”As he continues to improve and get better, I think more doors will be opened for him, so we will evaluate each on as they come along. So it’s fantastic to have somebody outside of the Bahamas recognising his talent.”

Bain said they have been working very hard to get his son the exposure he needed.

Jacobi Bain is coming off an appearance at the Orange Bowl where he finished in the top eight.

“It shows that he’s right there with the best in the world,” his proud father stated. “So we have to keep there where he can play with the best players in the world. If he’s not there playing with them, then he’s going to get left behind.

“So we need to keep him in that environment. We’re getting a lot of promises, but it’s short on delivery. It’s expensive for him to play in Europe because there’s the travel, the coaching and the support isn’t coming locally.”

Bain, aged 13, 5-foot, 11-inches and wearing size 13 in tennis shoes, is currently enrolled in the Players Tennis Fitness Institution in Ellenton, Florida, where he is training with a player from Australia and another from Romania.

“He’s in a good environment for training and development,” the elder Bain said. “His coach is from Romania and runs the academy is doing an exceptional job.”

Jacobi Bain said there’s no reason why he should not be able to maintain the level of competitiveness.

“I just want to say thank you to my team for all of the help,” he said. “I just want to stay focus and after I received the racquets and I tried them out, I was happy to make the change.

“I’ve had a good time in Europe. I met a lot of people and so I’m looking forward to going back. There are times when you run into people who don’t speak English, but they get around because if they don’t speak English, they basically understand what you’re saying.”

If there was any problem that Bain experienced on the tour, it would have been a bit of racism where one player from Israel tried to spit on him. But Bain said it’s been a lot of fun and he gets to do what he enjoys the most, playing tennis.

Coming from his initial appearance in Europe, Bain closed out the year by participating in the 55th Junior Orange Bowl Tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida where he got to the quarterfinal where he lost 6-1, 4-6, 14-12 to Xaiofel Wang from China. Wang won the Jr Orange Bowl boys’ 12 in 2016.

The performance came after Bain won the boys’ 13 singles at the prestigious Lil Mo/Big Mo International Championships at the PGA Resort and Spa in Palm Beach Garden, Florida with a 6-2, 6-2 decision over top seed Gabrielle Guzauskas.

“I felt my performance was good in the last two tournaments,” Jacobi Bain said.

“I won the first one and I got to the quarter-finals where I lost to the number one player in America. So I think my performance was very good.

“In the last tournament, I was leading in the second set, but I just got tired because this was my fourth third set and I was a little bit tired.”

Now ranked in the top 200 in Europe, Bain said he’s pleased with his performance because he played up to his potential, earning his first ITF points in the process.

In January, Bain said his son is expected to compete in two tournaments to jumpstart his season and he expects for him to pick up where he left off in 2016. The first is the Nike International Junior in London and another in France.

“He ended 2016 ranked at 186 in Europe in the boys’ under-14 and next year he should get in the top 100 and that should get him in the grade one tournaments. So he’s getting up there with the best players, but we need to keep him up there.”

Bain said they are seeking any support they can get from corporate Bahamas in supporting his son because 2017 will be his final year under 14. After that, he will have all of the tools to play at a higher level.

“We’re going to send him back to Europe in April-May, so we are hoping that he will finish off very strong there,” the elder Bain said. “We hope that everything will work out for him because next year we expect that he will be right there among the best players in the world in the under-14 division.”