By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
Team captain Marvin Rolle inserted Kevin ‘KJ’ Major Jr into the rotation and the Bahamas continued its winning streak, completing pool B round robin play with a 3-0 sweep over Trinidad & Tobago.
Now the Bahamas is one match away from returning to the American Zone II for 2017.
Major Jr, who supported his teammates from the sidelines in their first two victories over Honduras and Costa Rica in Zone III at the National Tennis Club in La Paz, Bolivia, finally got in action as they began play yesterday.
In his opening singles match, Major Jr pulled off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over Luke de Caires. Spencer Newman followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Akiel Duke and then Rolle and Spencer Newman sealed the deal with their 6-2, 6-3 win over Richard Chung and Luke De Caires.
Rolle said they decided to give Baker Newman a break after he played a number of matches over the past two ties and Major Jr fitted in very well.
“It was a good performance by everybody,” said Rolle in an interview from Bolivia. “KJ won in three sets. He came up big in the third set. And Spencer played well in his match and me and Spencer played the doubles and we were able to close it out in straight sets.
“Overall, it was a great match. We have a day off tomorrow (today) and will come back and play Jamaica on Saturday. So hopefully we can pull off the win and get up to zone II.”
Major, 21, needed just one hour and 39 minutes to dispose of De Caires. Both players had one ace and 58 percent each in 1st serve points won, but De Caires held a 10-5 advantage on double faults. Major Jr won in every other category.
It turned out to be a solid day for the Bahamas, was how Major Jr summed up their performance.
“I had a three set match, but I played really well and was able to pull us through,” he said. “All of us are in pretty good shape, so hopefully we will be able to pull through on Saturday.”
Following Major Jr, Spencer Baker took just 57 minutes to knock of Duke. He dominated in just every category with a 2-1 edge in aces, 9-3 in double faults, 54-39% in 1st serve, 85-52% in 1st serve points won, 83-12% in break points won. The only category he didn’t win was 2nd serve eon where Duke held a 81-71% advantage.
Spencer Newman said it was another great day for the Bahamas.
“KJ went out there for us and won it in three and shortly after, I went out and took care of business and clinched a win there and we went on to doubles and continued the trend,” he said. “I’m happy where we are. We have a day off tomorrow, so we will take advantage of that and get ready for the next day.”
In the doubles, Spencer Newman and Rolle took just 1:03 to clinch the tie over Trinidad & Tobago’s Richard Chung and Luke De Ciares. They held a 3-2 edge in aces and 5-2 in double faults. But despite posting a 46 percent (24-for-52) on first serve, they converted 87% (21-for-24) on first serve points won. They also had a 37% break point, compared to just 0% by their opponents.
Baker Newman said he was just delighted to be on the sidelines cheering for the team rather than playing.
“Good to see KJ get out there and get a match in. Taking it in three was good,” Baker Newman said. “I got a rest today and the boys got it done. Doubles was strong too. It’s good to finish on a high note. We have Jamaica on Saturday, so I’m real pumped about that one.”
The Bahamas, winner of the five-team pool B with a 3-0 record, is scheduled to take on Jamaica, the runner-up in pool A with a 2-0 record. Honduras, runners-up in pool B behind the Bahamas at 2-1, will take on host Bolivia, the winner of pool A at 2-0 as well.
From those matches, the two nations who will promoted to Zone II in 2017 will be determined.
The Bahamas has played in Zone III for the past seven years. The last time the Bahamas played in zone II was in 2009 when the team of Timothy Neilly, Devin Mullings, Bjorn Munroe and Marvin Rolle, captained by John Farrington, lost 4-1 to Paraguay in Paraguay and 3-2 to Guatemala here at the National Tennis Center.
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