The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THREE weeks ago, Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association president Elwood Donaldson held a press conference to wish the Bahamas Davis Cup team every “success” in Bolivia for the American Zone III Davis Cup tie.

Yesterday he congratulated them as they returned home having “advanced to Zone II.”

The team of veteran player/coach Marvin Rolle, rookie brothers Baker and Spencer Newman and four-time team member Kevin Major Jr did it. They completed the weeklong tournament with a perfect 5-0 win-loss record and a berth back in Zone II after a seven-year hiatus.

“I’m definitely very proud of these guys,” said Donaldson as he led the welcome reception that included BLTA executives, players, family members and friends at the National Tennis Centre where they highlighted the festivity by cutting a cake.

“We made some big surprises. We sent them a week earlier to become acclimated with Bolivia and they took advantage of it. They came out on top at the end. So we are very proud of their accomplishment.”

Donaldson, however, said they could not have achieved their success without the sponsorship of AID, who assisted the BLTA and other private donors in putting the team together and getting them into Bolivia.

Their achievement, according to Donaldson, will only bode well for the Georgio Baldacci Invitational in December when the Newman brothers will have to defend their top two spots in their bid to return for their second appearance on the Davis Cup team.

But while that is four months away, the BLTA and the players will bask in their triumph before they look at putting the team together to play in Zone II next year.

Rolle, the 32-year-old who split a pair of the Bahamas’ clinching victories in doubles with the Newman brothers, expressed his gratitude for the tremendous support that they all received while in Bolivia.

“We felt it down there, even though you were miles away,” Rolle said. “We felt that you were right there on our backs and you carried us through.

“We’ve been in zone III for 6-7 years, so it was a big victory for the Bahamas. We have been working hard to get out of this. We had great teams in the past as well, but with the Newman brothers added to the list and KJ, who has played for four years, we finally got it done.”

Through all of their matches, Rolle said he was “calm, cool and collective” and really only got out of his seat during the matches when the players came in for a change over in their games.

“When Baker got that last point, he saw everything come out of me,” Rolle said. “It was a big moment for all us. It was a great feeling.”

Baker Newman, in securing the win in his three-set win over Jamaica in the crossover semi-final match to finish with a 3-2 record in singles, said they had two fans who came out and supported them all week.

“For the first time representing the country along with my brother, KJ and Marvin, it was a great experience and one that I will remember for the rest of my life for sure,” said the 20-year-old Baker Newman.

“I really didn’t go out with any expectations. I just wanted to play my best. We had an awesome team. This was for the boys. I hope I can come back next year because it’s not over. This is just a stepping stone to Zone One.”

As for 23-year-old Spencer, he was as thrilled as Baker to have been afforded the opportunity to represent the Bahamas and to do it in grand style, not losing a match against countries, although he was 3-2 in his singles appearances.

“I’m looking forward to making this team next year and looking forward to pushing it further,” he said. “Thanks to the two supporters, who flew the flags and everybody here who supported us.

“It was an honour to be able to do this. This was something special. Let’s keep it going.  The matches were great. We got through them all.”

And 21-year-old Kevin Major Jr said although he only played a singles match, he got to watch all of the other matches and he was quite impressed with what he saw.

“It was fun watching. They heard me every point until we won,” he said. “When we went to the third sets, it was crazy. When Baker won his match to win the whole thing, I was this close to running on the court, but they hadn’t shaken hands yet. So when everything simmered down, we all ran on the court to celebrate.”

In his match, Major Jr said he enjoyed playing to the third set. He said he was just glad to be able to pull off a win.

“This team was fun. We didn’t just play tennis. Every day, we had something to do. We even played miniature golf, we played a lot of card games. It was a genuine team. It was a lot of fun.”

Omar Smith, the first vice president of the BLTA, said they know that everybody like winners, but they are hoping that the performances of the team will inspire the next generation of players ion the country.

“They can know that if they do well and they persevere, they can be the next group of players who can carry the Bahamas to the next level,” he said.

Cerene Rolle, who was responsible for getting the Newman brothers introduced to the BLTA, said he’s speechless of accomplishment of the team.

“I’m really excited, I’m really pleased to see what we have accomplished as an association,” he said. “There was a lot of work behind the scene that we had to go through, we had to overcome some financial obstacles that we had to deal with so I am really just ecstatic right now.”

Next year, Rolle said he intend to put on two international tennis tournaments that he hope will be able to generate some funds to assist the Davis Cup team in their quest to advance to Zone One.

Former BLTA president Edith Powell, who served when the Davis Cup team was playing in Zone One, said she was praying for years that the team would move back up to Zone II and now that they are there, she’s praying to get the country to Zone One and eventually the World Group.

“The think the players played very well,” she said. “It’s hard playing in zone III, but they persevered. We’re all still behind them and will continue to push our support behind them.”

Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller also made a brief appearance, expressing his gratitude to the players for their accomplishment. The BOC is hoping that the BLTA will have at least a player or doubles team on the Bahamas team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil when they make the official announcement today.

But in the meantime, as they now prepare for Zone II, Rolle said the BLTA is going to need all the support it can get because they will be playing against single countries in best-of-five sets and not best-of-three in a round robin format.

“We will need the support for sure because we will have to go out there and play more tournaments to get ready for the tie,” Rolle summed up.