The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas’ Davis Cup team has gotten off to a slow start at the American Zone lll Davis Cup in Asuncion, Paraguay.

The team came into their third matchup of the week looking to bounce back after some tough losses to the Dominican Republic and Paraguay in previous games.

However, the team suffered the same fate once again, this time losing to Costa Rica 3-0 at the International Tennis Club.

The Pool B team needed the win to keep in contention to advance to the Americas Group ll in 2024.

After going into yesterday’s matchup 0-2 at the Davis Cup, Team Bahamas looked to grab a win in one of three matches against Costa Rica.

In match one, Grand Bahama’s Denali Nottage opened against Costa Rica’s Rodrigo Crespo Piedra.

The matches went to two sets favouring Crespo Piedra 6-4 in the opening set and 6-2 in the final set.

Nottage averaged 40% (18/45) on his first serves and 78% (14/18) on first serve points won.

Meanwhile, his opponent averaged 57% on first serves and 81% on first serve points won. The Costa Rica player averaged 100% on second serves compared to Nottage’s 93%.

After 1 hour and 3 minutes of action, Nottage amassed 37 total points won and his opponent capped off at 55 in the match.

Kevin Major Jr, who made it to the Davis Cup for the seventh time, turned in a competitive match against Jesse Flores.

The tightly-contested competition between the singles competitors went to three sets yesterday.

The initial set went to Major, who earned a 7-6 win over Flores after winning the tiebreaker 7-5.

In set two, both males were eager to get the win this time the tiebreaker went the other way favouring Costa Rica 7-6 following a 10-8 tiebreaker.

In the final set, it was all Flores as he defeated Major 6-0 to get the win.

In the final match, Team Bahamas was represented by Donte Armbrister and team captain Marvin Rolle.

The captain is a seasoned member of the Davis Cup team, having earned the most years played (19), most total wins (43-37), and most doubles wins (29-22).

The Bahamas needed a win to avoid sinking in an 0-3 hole.

Costa Rica’s doubles duo of Luca Lo Nardo and Pablo Nunez brought their A-game and trumped The Bahamas in two sets 6-2, 6-2.

The Bahamas remains last in Pool B with an 0-3 record after losing to Costa Rica, making it their first win of the Davis Cup.

Pool B teams include Paraguay, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras and The Bahamas.

The top two teams will be promoted to the Americas Group ll in 2024.

The Bahamas will look for its first win of the competition against Honduras today.

Matchups wrap up on Saturday.