The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association will have to start the process all over again for supremacy in the prestigious Fed Cup after the three-member team of Nikkita Fountain, Iesha Shepherd and player/captain Larikah Russell got relegated to the Americas Zone II for 2015.

The trio gave it their best shot at the Americas Zone One Fed Cup Tie over the weekend in Lambara, Paraguay, but they were unsuccessful in winning any of their matches, including the finale on Saturday to allow them to stay in zone one.

After going undefeated in Group B, the Bahamas faced Venezuela in the relegation match, but the well went dry as Fountain was unable to complete the second singles, losing 6-1, 2-1 retired to Venezuela’s top seed Adriana Perez, who is ranked at No. 160 in the world.

The Bahamas had already fallen in the hole after rookie Shepherd went down 6-0, 6-0 to Venezuelan No.2 seed Andrea Gomez, who is pegged at No. 277 in the world.

After Fountain was unable to complete her match, the rubber doubles match didn’t have to play as Venezuela remained in Zone One and the Bahamas joined Ecuador in being relegated. Ecuador lost 2-1 to Mexico.

It was a rough weekend for the Bahamas team, who didn’t have the services of Simone Pratt, Kerrie Cartwright and Danielle Thompson as they played against teams all with players ranked on the WATP. None of the Bahamas players have any rankings.

Playing out of Group B, the Bahamas fell behind from the opening match against Colombia as both Russell and Fountain lost their singles. The duo, however, showed some resilience as they were successful in winning the doubles for a 2-1 decision. In their second match against Brazil, Shepherd got the nod, but she and Fountain lost in singles, while Russell and Fountain suffered a defeat in doubles in a 3-0 whitewashing.

And in their final match in the round robin against Ecuador, neither Shepherd or Fountain were able to prevail in their singles and the pressure was on for Russell and Fountain in doubles, but it was a little too much for them to handle. The Bahamas got blanked again 3-0.

Initially, the BLTA had anticipated taking a team that would have included at least half of the quartet that pulled off a dramatic victory in Zone II last year in El Salvador where the Bahamas joined Ecuador in getting promoted to Zone One.

But both Kerrie Cartwright and Danielle Thompson were unable to travel because of school commitments and while playing on the junior circuit, Simone Pratt got injured and was also unable to travel.