The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas men’s Davis Cup team returned home, having completed a successful mission of advancing to the American Zone II Davis Cup competition in 2019.

Over the weekend in the American Zone III competition at the Costa Rica Country Club in Escazu, Costa Rica, the Bahamas prevailed with a 2-1 decision over the host nation in the crossover playoffs to join Honduras, who swept Paraguay 2-0 in the other qualifying match to advance.

Both the Bahamas and Honduras played out of pool B where they finished first and second to face the respective second and first place Costa Rica and Paraguay out of pool A in the playoffs. The Bahamas played in zone II last year, only to lose 4-1 to Bolivia at the Club de Tenis Santa Cruz in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, April 7-9 and was demoted to zone III.

“We pulled it off,” said Rolle from Costa Rica.

Philip Major Jr, playing as the No. 2 seeded player, completed a successful doubles campaign as he once again got the ball rolling, winning 6-2, 6-2 in the first match over Sebastian Quiros from Costa Rica. In all five matches played, Major Jr didn’t lose a set.

“Wow. We got the win today,” said an excited Major Jr, who played extremely well all week long.

Following Major Jr’s triumph, top seed Baker Newman played the second singles where he eventually lost 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 to Jesse Floras.

Baker admitted that it wasn’t his best tennis he could have played “all week,” but he was still pleased to have made a contribution and to cheer on the team in the other matches, including the doubles where Major Jr and Rolle got the job done.

Reflecting on his singles, Major Jr said he played “great” and he stuck to the game plan implemented by veteran player/captain Marvin Rolle.

It came down to the doubles where Major Jr returned to team up with Rolle as they performed the magic touch in their 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 decision over Floras and Julian Saborio in a match that lasted one hour and 35 minutes before a stunned crowd.

Major Jr, however, said he knew all along that he and Rolle make a dynamic doubles duo and he hope that their performance in the tie will convince him to allow them to forge a working relationship making forward in the future. The duo played in three of the five doubles matches and prevailed in all.

As for their singles play, Rolle noted that Major Jr was just a little too strong for his opponent. He noted that it was the reverse for Newman as his opponent eventually applied the pressure in the second set after taking the tie breaker in the first set.

But he noted that with the promotion on the line, he and Major Jr bowed down and took care of business in the doubles.

“I don’t think we saw a break point until 5-4 in the second set,” Rolle said. “We got that break 6-4. Then in the third set, we were down a break, but we kept fighting and pulled it out.”

Although he didn’t get to play in the pivotal tie, newcomer Jody Turnquest said he was just happy to be on the sidelines cheering the players on. He noted that it was a complete teamwork that got the Bahamas “back in zone two.” Turnquest played in one singles match, winning against Bermuda and he and Rolle split their two doubles encounters, winning against Jamaica, but losing to Honduras.

The Bahamas prevailed out of pool B with a perfect 4-0 win-loss record and an 11-1 decision in matches played. The team won 2-1 over Honduras in their first match on Monday and 3-0 over Antigua & Barbuda on Tuesday. After a day’s rest, the Bahamas came back and swept Jamaica on Thursday and completed the round robin format with another 3-0 sweep over Bermuda.

Rolle said they had an excellent team, which included newcomer Jody Turnquest, and a support crew in the stands led by Fina Johnson, who provided daily updates to the media. He thanked the Bahamas for their support and noted that they are looking forward to playing again in zone II in 2019.

Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association president Darnette Weir said they are pleased with the performance of the team.

“The team has done a phenomenal job. I am happy for the BLTA for this great accomplishment, but even happier for the team members who have individually worked hard to perfect their game,” Weir said. “The team went went defeated against all contenders. This speaks volume to the talent that we have in this country.

“The team did not train together as a team before leaving, but was able to come together and push each other. They were in Costa Rica for ten days with three days before the competition to get acclimatized. We had a little challenged financially sending this team, but as always we braved the storm and made it happen.”

Weir commended Rolle, who served for the 16th time on the team and made a tremendous contribution in pulling the team together as not only his coaching ,but his playing skills as a member of the doubles team, was able to pull the team through in the clutch situations.

She added that while Newman did a herculean job as the number one player, Major Jr. was consistent as the number two player, going undefeated and Turnquest was able to make his contribution as the new member of the team in singles and doubles with Rolle.

On the way forward, Weir said the association must now find a way to keep the team in zone II or get them promoted to zone one again, rather than taking the plunge and dropping back to zone III as they did last year. She encouraged corporate Bahamas to reach forth and assist the association in providing better uniforms for the players, more funding to get them to go to international tournaments and to allow them to train together before the next tie next year.