The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE BAHAMAS Lawn Tennis Association's team to the American Zone III Davis Cup tie is off to an impressive start in the first two days of competition in Trinidad & Tobago.

The team, captained by Dentry Mortimer, has reeled off their first two matches in Group B at the Shaw Park Tennis Facility in Tobago and are now sitting in a good position to advance to the playoffs.

After blanking United States Virgin Islands 3-0 in their first match on Monday, the Bahamas came back yesterday and did the same against Panama.

In yesterday's matches, Grand Bahamian Rodney Carey Jr, playing as the No.2 seed, won his opening singles 7-6, 6-1. Top seed Marvin Rolle easily won the second singles 6-1, 6-0.

"The competition is going well. Our guys are playing tough matches each day and their game is improving as the matches progress," Mortimer said.

"I'm very pleased with the guys. They are fighting hard and giving their all in each match, which is why we have been successful so far (in the tie)."

In their opening match against the US Virgin Islands, Rolle pulled off a 6-3, 6-2 victory in his singles, while Carey Jr won 6-2, 6-4. Rolle and Carey Jr also teamed up in doubles, pulling off a 6-1, 6-4 decision.

The combo of Carey Jr and Philip Major won the doubles 6-3, 6-4.

The Bahamas is now preparing to play Jamaica today at 10 a.m. and their final match in the round robin will be on Thursday against Costa Rica. The playoffs will get underway on Friday.

The Bahamas still has to play Costa Rica and Jamaica before they complete the pool round robin. The top two teams will advance to the playoffs against the top two from pool A, which comprise of Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, Aruba, Haiti and Honduras.

"The competition is tough and most countries want to get out of this zone because it's so rough," Mortimer stated. "But our guys look really good."

The two top teams from the playoffs will be promoted to the Americas Zone II for 2013. The remaining teams will remain in Group III as there is no longer a Group IV.

The Bahamas team of Bjorn Munroe, Rolle, Devin Mullings and Timothy Neilly were relegated to Group III after losing to Guatemala 3-2 in 2009.

In 2010, the team of Rolle, Mullings, Carey and Justin Lunn lost out to Puerto Rico in the playoffs to remain in Zone III.

Last year, the team of Rolle, Mullings, Neilly and Jamaal Adderley beat Jamaica in the playoffs, but they were not in a position to get promoted.

The latter three teams were captained by John Farrington.

Farrington also served as captain when Mortimer played in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Mortimer, who replaced Farrington this year, said it has been a smooth transition for him so far.

"As captain, it's easy for me to coach compared to playing and I'm speaking from experience as a former player in this competition," he stated.

"My focus is motivating each player in an effort to keep their confidence going. I still get goose bumps when the matches are close."

He's not playing but Mortimer said his goal is to help the team on the sidelines to qualify for the playoffs and eventually get promoted to Group II next year.

"We're just taking it one match at a time," he said.