The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

WITH a day off from competition, captain/coach Marvin Rolle got in some practice with the men’s Davis Cup team of Philip Major Jr, Baker Newman, Justin Lunn and Donte Armbrister.

The team was coming off their opening victory over Antigua & Barbuda in Pool A on Monday in San Jose, Costa Rica. They also took the match between Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.

“We’re just going to go out to the court, get in a good hit, get a sweat, watch some matches, eat some lunch and then come back and rest and get ready for Wednesday,” Rolle stated.

The Bahamas will be back in action today against Costa Rica. They will then play the US Virgin Islands on Thursday and Puerto Rico on Friday. The playoffs will take place on Saturday.

Reflecting on the team’s opening day performance, Rolle said it was a great way to get started.

“PJ came out first. PJ started off a little slow, but he was able to pull it out and won in straight sets,” Rolle said. “Then Baker came out in the second match. He had a rough day. His opponent served really well. His opponent was just ready for him. The last two times they played, Baker beat him, so he was really ready for Baker this time. Unfortunately, PJ wasn’t able to hold his own.”

With the match-up between the two nations tied at 1-1, Rolle said the Bahamas won the traditional doubles in set scores of 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the tie for the Bahamas.

Rolle, by the way, holds the record for having produced the best doubles record of 26-17, having played in the most ties - 53 - and the most years - 16 - by any Bahamian player.

From this year’s tie, the top two teams will automatically get promoted to zone II for 2020. Last year in Costa Rica, the Bahamas defeated Costa Rica 2-1 and joined Honduras, who won 2-0 over Paraguay.

But after a reconfiguration of the tie, the Bahamas remained in zone III, while only Honduras advanced. The Bahamas last played out of zone II in 2017. After playing from 2010 to 2016 in zone III, the Bahamas played out of zone II in 2004-2005.

Prior to that, the Bahamas played in zone one from 1993 to 2003.

In 1993, the Bahamas also advanced to the World Group, only to lose 5-0 to the United States.