The Bahamas was able to salvage its initial tie of Americas Group III Davis Cup action at Club Internacional de Tenis in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Monday, but still lost the battle two matches to one to a tough Dominican Republic (DR) team.
In the first match of the day, playing in the number two singles position, national champion Denali Nottage fell in his Davis Cup debut, losing to Alejandro Jose Gandini in straight sets, 6-2 and 6-4, in a match that lasted an hour and 21 minutes. In match number two, playing in the number one singles position for The Bahamas, Kevin Major Jr. fell to Peter Bertran in straight sets, 6-4 and 6-3, in a match that lasted an hour and 32 minutes. In doubles, the team of Donte Armbrister and player/captain Marvin Rolle defeated the team of Enmanuel Munoz and Alberto Puello in straight sets, 7-6(0) and 6-2, in a match that lasted an hour and 28 minutes.
Armbrister is on the team for the second time, Major is making his seventh appearance at Davis Cup and veteran Rolle is on the team for the 19th time.
The team had a shaky start on Monday, but the doubles win could give them some momentum going into today’s matchup against Paraguay, a team they lost to two matches to one last year, and are winless against in four tries in the history of The Bahamas’ participation at Davis Cup.
The other teams in The Bahamas’ pool are Honduras and Costa Rica, and they must finish in the top two to have a chance to be promoted to the Americas Group II for next year. The teams in Pool A are Bolivia, Venezuela, Bermuda and Panama. The top two teams in each pool will play a crossover playoffs against each other with the winners playing for the gold and the losers playing for the bronze. All three of the medal finishers will be promoted to the Americas Group II for next year. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the Americas Group IV for next year.
The event is being played on outdoor clay courts.
In the first match of the day, Nottage won just 45 percent of his first serves (15-for-33) while his opponent won 61 percent of his (23-for-38). He also won 57 percent of his second serves (13-for-23) compared to 43 percent for Nottage (12-for-28). Gandini broke Nottage five times in the match and won 70 of the 122 total points.
In the second match, Major won 58 percent of his first serves (25-for-43) compared to 72 percent for his opponent (26-for-36). Bertran won 59 percent of his second serves (10-for-17) compared to 43 percent for Major (10-for-23). Bertran broke Major four times and won 67 of the 119 total points.
In the doubles match, Armbrister and Rolle won 72 percent of their first serves (36-for-50) compared to just 56 percent for their opponents (30-for-54). They also won 50 percent of their second serves (8-for-16) compared to 47 percent for their opponents (8-for-17). Armbrister and Rolle broke Munoz and Puello three times and won 77 of the total 137 points.
The tournament continues today and wraps up on Saturday.