The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BASED on their performances at the 2016 Georgio Baldacci Open Tennis Tournament, Iesha Shepherd, Sydney Clarke, Sierra Donaldson and Elana Mackey will represent the Bahamas at the Americas Zone II Fed Cup next month.

The quartet- coached by Chelsea Russell, will compete in Panama City, Panama from July 19-22 against teams from Barbados, Bermuda, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay.

The teams will be split into one pool of three and three pools of four. The winners of each pool will advance to the playoffs against another pool winner to determine which two nations are promoted to Americas Zone Group One in 2018.

Only the nation finishing fourth in Pool C will not be allowed to compete in the positional playoffs.

Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association president Elwood Donaldson said while the team was selected from December, they have just begun their team preparation and they are eager to represent the country.

"The team is a young junior team," he said. "Iesha and Sierra have been on it before. Although they are juniors, they have some experience. The others are going for the first time. So it's a young team.

"But we are hoping that the exposure that Iesha and Sierra got before will help them and while Sydney and Elana have represented the country at the junior level, this is the first time that they will be competing at the senior level."

Last year, Shepherd and Donaldson, along with Gabriela Donaldson and Lauryn Daxon represented the Bahamas in Puerto Rico where they team suffered four defeats to Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

However, Donaldson said the Fed Cup is going through a resurgence as they have not been able to get more of the seasoned players

"The girls are training hard and getting better, but it will be a year or two before we see the development of these players," he stressed. "We're still hoping that the more seasoned players will eventually come home to compete for their spot on the team again."

Donaldson said they are hoping that players like Simone Pratt, Danielle Thompson, and Kerrie Cartwright will eventually be available to come back and play on the team in the future.

"These players were on the team the last time that we were in zone one," Donaldson said. "But in the meantime, we have to work with our younger players and base on our base."

The Bahamas first played in the Fed Cup in 1900 and reached the Americas Zone Group One a couple of times. Versatile Larikah Russell has posted a total of wins with a 31-17 record and a 14-8 showing in singles, titles with Kerrie Cartwright, who is 14-6.

Russell also has the most doubles win with a 17-9 record and she has teamed up with Nikita Fountain for the best performances by a team with an 11-9 showing. Fountain has played in the most ties with 36 in a span of 10 years.

Going into the tie, the Bahamas is ranked at number 75 in the world with 167.5 points.

In preparation for the tie, the team will continue practicing at the National Tennis Center on Thursdays at 4-6, Saturdays at 1-3 and Sundays from 7-9 am up until it's time for them to travel.