The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas men’s team, captained by Marvin Rolle, split their first two games at the American Zone III Davis Cup during the first two days of competition in Panama City, Panama.

After getting shut out 3-0 by Guatemala on the first day of competition on Monday, the Bahamas rebounded to take out Trinidad & Tobago, winning 2-1.

In the singles competition at the Cancha Estadio Centro de Alto Rendimiento, Llanos de Curundu, Panama, Grand Bahamian Rodney Carey lost a hard fought 6-3, 7-6 (6) decision to Vaughn Wilson in the match-up between the two No.2 seeded players.

But in the showdown between the top seeded players, Kevin Major was too much for Ethan Ammon to handle as he pulled of a 6-2, 6-4 decision to level the score.

In the pivotal doubles, the combination of Grand Bahamian Jamal Adderley and player/captain Rolle made easy work of Akiel Duke and Wilson for a 6-3, 6-1 victory to secure a 2-1 victory.

Their performance came after the Bahamas got whipped out 3-0 by Guatemala on Monday.

In that match-up, Carey went three sets before he lost 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4 to Wilfredo Gonzalez. Major then dropped a 6-4, 6-1 straight set loss to Christopher Diaz-Figueroa. Then Diaz-Figueroa and Gonzalez put the finishing touches on the tie with an identical 6-3, 6-3 decision over Adderley and Rolle.

The Bahamas still has to play Jamaica and Bermuda to complete their round robin play. At the completion of the round robin, the winner of Pool A plays the runner-up of Pool B and vice versa in promotion playoffs, with the victors ascending to Americas Zone Group II for 2016. The teams participating in Pool A are Paraguay, Cuba, Honduras and Panama.

Last year, the Bahamas played out of Pool A, going undefeated in the round robin. However, when they advanced to the playoffs, the team of Rolle, top seed Devin Mullings, also from Grand Bahama, Adderley and Major, lost 2-1 to Puerto Rico and was denied the opportunity to be promoted to zone II.

It was a duplication of 2013 when the team of Rolle, Mullings, Adderley and Major went undefeated in Pool B, only to lose 2-0 to Paraguay in the playoffs.

The Bahamas was relegated to Zone III after losing 3-2 to Guatemala in July, 2009. This is the second string of appearances in Zone III for the Bahamas, who played there after getting relegated in July, 2005 by Colombia and played until June, 2007 with a 2-1 win over Puerto Rico.

The Bahamas has played in the Davis Cup tie since 1989. It’s best showing came in 1993 when the team of Roger Smith, Mark Knowles, John Farrington and captain John Antonas, reached the World Group playoffs, only to lose 3-0 to the American team, led by Andre Agassi in Charlotte, North Carolina.