The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s three-member team pulled off their second consecutive victory at the Billie Jean King Cup junior girls under- 16 tennis tournament in the Dominican Republic.

Following on the heels of their 3-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago on Sunday, the team came back yesterday and improved to 2-0 with another 3-0 decision over Aruba.

In their first singles match against Aruba, Takaii Adderlery pulled off a 6-0, 6-2 win over Valentina Cheng and Tatyana Madu earned a 6-0, 6-1 win over Mali Baround.

Adderley then teamed up with Breann Ferguson in doubles to win 6-0, 6-2 over Cheng and Isis Martinez.

Captain Larikah Russell said the team had one goal in mind and that was to limit the amount of games they yielded to their opponents.

“Because of that goal, that really motivated them to give 100 per cent and to have laser focus today and I’m proud of them for getting the job done,” said Russell from the tournament.

“I must admit that they are having better control of the points during the match. They are being more in control and playing more aggressively, so that is creating short balls for them to come in and put away the points.”

With that in mind, Russell said she’s very proud of how the players are performing individually.

As for the doubles team, she noted that their chemistry is clicking and they are serving and returning extremely well and they are getting much better.

“I am very excited about the match-up tomorrow (today) against Puerto Rico,” she projected. “The girls know that it is going to be a challenge for us, but they are not worried.

“We know that we have one of the best teams here and so they are just going to go out there and play extremely hard and give it all we got and just believe in each other.”

Russell said that the team is ready to play and she’s excited to see how well they perform in their bid to remain undefeated in the week-long tournament.

In their match on Sunday, Ferguson won the opening singles 7-6 (5), 6-2 over Lilly Mohammed, while Madu won 6-43, 6-3 over Em-Miryam Campbell-Smith.

Adderley and Ferguson teamed up in doubles as well to secure a 6-2, 6-2 win over Madison Khan and Mohammed.

While the girls’ team will play their third straight game today, the boys’ team, playing in the Junior Davis Cup, will be back in action after a day off. They played their first match on Sunday and pulled off a 3-0 win over Puerto Rico. The team, captained by Spencer Newman, is composed of Jerald Carroll, Jackson Mactaggart and William McCartney. “We are the team to beat here,” Newman said.

“I’ve been on the court myself playing each of the boys and they are very strong. Each one of them could go anywhere in the line-up and have a very solid chance of winning singles and doubles.”