The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH the team has settled in, the Bahamian players are also trying to adjust to the weather conditions in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, as they prepare for the American Zone II Davis Cup Tie this weekend.

The team of Marvin Rolle, Spencer Newman, Philip Major Jr and Justin Lunn arrived in Bolivia over the weekend, but they were hindered from practicing yesterday because of the pouring rain.

“Since we got here we’ve been practicing, but we couldn’t practice this morning because of the rain,” said Rolle, the returning team captain. “It’s been raining all morning.

“But it’s been good. We have been getting together and jelling as a team. Everybody looks good. PJ is moving very well, Spencer is hitting the ball good and Justin is playing well as well. I’m just trying to keep up with them.”

Federico Zeballos, who is ranked at 496 in the world in singles and 375 in doubles, will be leading Bolivia, whose team also includes Hugo Dellien (ranked 606 in singles and 615 in doubles; Boris Arias, ranked No. 1993 in singles and No.944 in doubles and Juan Carlos Manuel Aguilar, ranked at No. 1998 in singles and No. 1253 in doubles.

“It’s going to be a good competition over the weekend,” Rolle projected. “Anything could happen, but we truly believe in ourselves and we are confident that we will do very well.”

Rolle said they heard that there is expected to be some Bahamians coming for the tie, so they’re looking forward to that.

The team will continue to prepare as they gear up for the draw on Thursday to determine who will play who when the opening singles are staged on Friday. The doubles is set for Saturday and the reverse singles will be played on Sunday.

The Bahamas will need to win the tie in order to stay alive in Zone II for 2018. If the Bahamas loses, the team will be relegated to Zone III.

Last year, the team of Rolle, Spencer and Baker Newman and Kevin Major promoted the Bahamas from Zone II. The Bahamas, however, lost its first-round match to Venezuela when the tie was played in Doral, Florida, in February.

The Players’ Reaction

Spencer Newman, the top ranked player in the absence of his brother Baker, said they are taking it all in stride in Bolivia.

“I’m feeling good. I’m comfortable about how my body feels and I’m excited to be here,” he stressed.

In Bolivia, the Bahamas will be matched against a team that has at least three players in the rankings, but Newman said that’s not going to be a concern for the Bahamas, which doesn’t have any ranked players.

“We have beaten players with rankings in the past,” he emphasised. “We know what level these players are and they have some loop holes in their games. We just have to be able to expose it.”

Newman said they are all “jelling” and should be okay as they continue to prepare for the showdown this weekend.

Philip Major Jr, making his return on the team as the No.2 player, is excited about the tie.

“We are all feeling well. I’m feeling well and playing well,” he said. “The conditions here is pretty windy with a lot of rain, so it’s fortunate enough that we got here early so we can get adjusted.”

The tie against Venezuela was Major Jr’s first playing five sets. Although he lost both matches played, he’s confident that he has learned how to prepare himself for this level.

“I have definitely been training more with Marvin and I also learned how to manage my game and preserve more energy,” he said. “I’m just trying to be more sharp with my game and staying engaged mentally.”

Based on the work he has done, Major Jr said he intends to be ready for the task ahead of him.

“Hopefully I can help the Bahamas come out with the victory, but tennis is so unpredictable,” Major Jr pointed out.

Justin Lunn, the No.4 player on the team, likes what he’s seen from Team Bahamas.

“We all feel good. Everything is going good. Everybody is trying to stay in rhythm,” Lunn said. “We should be able to pull it of it we play very smart. We just have to stay clam and we should be able to pull it of.

“From the looks of things, we seemed to be a bit fitter than these guys. So we just hope to feed of that. But we have to be patient and just play point for point and don’t over do it.”

Lunn said it’s an amazing feeling to be able to represent the Bahamas once again.

“It’s always amazing to play on the Davis Cup team whether it’s the first time, second time or tenth time,” he stressed. “It’s an amazing feeling and I love it every time that I get an opportunity to do it.”

So far, Lunn said everybody is getting along very good and they are having a blast as they wait for the competition to start on Friday.