The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE men’s team of player/captain Marvin Rolle and Phillip Major Jr gave it a gallant effort in the pivotal doubles, but it wasn’t enough to get the Bahamas past Bolivia in the Davis Cup Zone II tie.

On Saturday at the Club de Tenis Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Rolle and Major Jr fell 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-0, 6-1 to Bolivia’s duo of Hugo Dellien and Federicio Zeballos.

With the victory, Bolivia clinched the tie after winning the first two singles of the first day of competition on Friday to remain in Zone II for 2018. With the loss, the Bahamas dropped back down to Zone III.

The tie will be completed on Sunday, but the reverse singles will be relegated to the best-of-three matches instead of the best-of-five in the opening singles on Friday.

In those matches, Bahamas’ top seed Spencer Newman suffered a 6-2, 6-0, 6-2 loss to Dellien, Bolivia’s No.2 seed, while Major Jr, playing No.2, fell 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to Zeballos, Bolivia’s top seed.

None of Team Bahamas players were available for comments.

But Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s public relations officer Perry Newton said they had a rain delay after the third set and they were hoping that Team Bahamas would have regrouped.

“The team tried to pull it off, but Bolivia just got the best of us in the doubles,” he said. “So we look forward to next year with the hopes of getting back into Zone II.”

Newton said the BLTA is confident that with the calibre of players that they have to work with, the Bahamas has sufficient players to do it again.

Last year, Rolle captained the team that comprised of brothers Baker and Spencer Newman, along with Kevin Major Jr as they advanced out of Zone III.

However, the BLTA didn’t have the services of Baker Newman and Kevin Major Jr this year, with both committed to playing for their respective colleges.

Without them, Rolle carried the same team of Spencer Newman, Phillip Major Jr and Justin Lunn to Doral, Florida in February where they lost 5-0 to Venezuela in the first round of the American Zone II tie.

Rolle and the trio of Spencer Newman, Phillip Major Jr and Justin Lunn made the trip to Bolivia in their bid to stay in Zone II. But Newton said Team Bahamas faced a high level of tennis.

Both Zeballos and Dellien are ranked in the top 1,000 on the ATP computer list, but none of Team Bahamas players are ranked.

Despite losing the tie, Newton said he and the other seven spectators who traveled to Bolivia to support Team Bahamas were treated with a lot of love and respect by the home crowd.

“It was a lot of fun.” Newton stated.