The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas will have to wait another year to try to get promoted out of zone III of the American Davis Cup tie.

Last weekend at the Palmas Athletic Club in Humacao, Puerto Rico, the team of player/captain Marvin Rolle, Devin Mullings, Jamal Adderley and Kevin Major fell short of advancing as one of two teams to zone II for 2014.

In their crossover playoff match against host Puerto Rico, the Bahamas got beaten 2-1. In that tie, Mullings won his singles 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Alex Llompart, but Adderley dropped his match 6-3, 6-4 to Gabriel Flores Ruiz. And in the pivotal doubles, Adderley and Rolle were beaten 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 by Gilberto Alvarez and Llompart.

“Our performance overall was good,” said Rolle of their 2-1 win-loss record for second place in pool A. “Our first match was against Cuba. Devin came out strong and he played well. KJ was playing well, but he wasn’t able to close out, leading 4-1 in the third. I guess he doesn’t have the experience to ply the scoreboard.

“The next couple of matches, we put in Jamal as number two and moved Devin up to number one. Jamal had the experience being in college and playing Davis Cup before, so he was able to hold his own a little better. And we got the next two wins against Panama and Honduras.”

But in the playoffs against Puerto Rico, Rolle said they ran into a very strong team that wanted it a little more than did.

“Jamal played first. He lost, but had a lot of chances to convert and hold, but he just didn’t pull it out. He still gave it his all and that is all we could expect,” he noted. “Devin came out and being on the team for so long, he knew how to close out matches and he did his thing.

“Me and Jamal came out and played doubles. We started off a little slow and lost the first set. We were down in the second set, but we rallied back and gave it a good effort, winning it. In the third set, a lot of the games went to deuce, but Puerto Rico was just strong in those efforts. We gave it our all, but we just didn’t pull it off.”

As they look ahead to next year, Rolle said it’s going to imperative that he, Mullings and Adderley get an opportunity to play in a tournament or two before the tie because it’s going to be hard considering that the fact that they are not actually on the tour, but are now working men.

“We just have to get match ready,” he said. “That would do a lot for us to help us because once we get there, we are thrown right into the fire. It’s tough to find your way at the beginning. That is why I think it was tough for us against Cuba in the first match. But after we got a few matches in, we felt a lot better and our confidence was starting to come together.”

In their final match against Puerto Rico, Rolle said they were a little out-classed by the more experienced Puerto Rican team, who obviously have been playing together a lot longer than they did coming into the tie.

On his double duties as the playing captain, Rolle said it was quite interesting.

“Being on the court for the whole time and seeing the matches was interesting,” he said. “I hope I get to do it again because me and the guys got a lot closer being in those tight and pressure situations. Overall, it was a very good experience for me as the player/captain.”