The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

It was a clean sweep of all three matches played against Antigua & Barbuda on day two of the American Zone III Davis Cup Tie in Costa Rica as the Bahamas men’s national team remain undefeated.

Following their 2-1 win over Honduras on Monday at the Costa Rica Country Club in Escape, Costa Rica, the Bahamas secured a 3-0 decision over Antigua & Barbuda yesterday.

In the opening singles, No.2 seed Philip Major Jr won 6-4, 6-3 over Shakir Elvin in one hour and nine minutes. That was followed by No.1 seed Baker Newman winning 7-5, 7-5 over Jody Maginley. Major Jr and player/captain Marvin Rolle put the icing on the cake with a 6-2, 6-0 decision over Carlton Bedminster and Kevin Gardner in doubles.

“PJ started off pretty good. I think he underestimated the guy a little bit and the guy came back in the first set, but PJ was able to close it out,” Rolle said. “Then in the second set, both of them played pretty well, but PJ managed to pull it out.

“Baker was second in the singles matches. Both players were not playing that well the whole match. It was much more a mental match more than anything, but Baker was able to pull it out.”

Rolle said in the doubles, he and Major Jr played very well to secure the win. “We won today. We did a great job. Me and Baker struggled in our singles matches, but we won a way to pull it off,” Major Jr said. “We really wanted it.”

Today was a great day for doubles. “Me and Marvin played very well in doubles,” he said. “We put our best foot forward and competed very well for the Bahamas.”

On his match, Newman said after Major Jr got things started, he had to grind it out to pull the Bahamas ahead for good.

“I didn’t play my best tennis today, but we won,” Newman said. “PJ and Marvin played very well in doubles to clinch it. We are confident that we would have done it in doubles.”

Jody Turnquest, the newcomer on the team, said it was good to watch as the more seasoned players prevailed with another win.

In their opener on Monday, Major Jr won 6-4, 6-2 over Keny Turcios, Newman took care of Jaime Bendeck 6-2, 6-1, but Rolle and Turnquest fell 6-2, 6-2 to Bendeck and Alejandro Obando in doubles.

The Bahamas will have a day off today and return to action on Thursday when they face Jamaica. They will complete Group B play against Bermuda on Friday.

The top two teams out of their group will advance to play against the top two teams out of Group A, inclusive of Paraguay, Costa Rica, Cuba and Panama.

The two winners out of the playoffs this weekend will be promoted to Group II for 2019.

Perry Newton, the public relations officer for the BLTA, said despite the players not performing at their best yesterday, the Bahamas still prevailed and he’s confident that the team will be in a position to advance to zone II next year.