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Billie Jean King Cup Americas Group II Tournament gets underway today in the DR
Simba FrenchSend an emailJuly 26, 2023 21 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Bahamas’ Billie Jean King Cup (BJKC) team is in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (DR), and got in their final practice yesterday. They will take on Paraguay in the Billie Jean King Cup Americas Group II Tournament on hard courts at the Centro Nacional de Tenis Parque Del Este in Santo Domingo today.
Representing The Bahamas will be Simone Pratt, Sydney Clarke, Elana Mackey and Sapphire Ferguson. Kim Gillian O’Kelley is the captain.
Other countries competing in the tournament are Costa Rica, host country Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Bahamas is in Pool B with Venezuela, Paraguay and Costa Rica.
Two teams will be promoted to the Americas Group I and two will be demoted at the end of the tournament.
President of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) Perry Newton likes the odds of the senior women’s national team.
“The Bahamian ladies have very strong odds of finishing in the top of their pool. We are familiar with most of the teams with Paraguay being new to the zone. The team now has a lot of experience and should do well,” Newton said.
The Bahamas plays Venezuela after Paraguay and will end pool play against Costa Rica.
Pratt, Clarke and Mackey are no strangers to this competition, having played in last year’s competition. Ferguson is making her debut in this competition as a 16-year-old.
“It’s always good when we are able to have juniors make the team as it helps to prepare them for the road ahead. Ferguson will do well as she is surrounded by veteran players who have spent several years playing college tennis as well as having represented us in the Billie Jean King Cup Tournament for several years. Adding the experience of ‘Coach Kim’, she (Ferguson) is in very good hands,” said Newton.
The most experienced member of the team is lefty Simone Pratt who has played in six Billie Jean King Cup tournaments. Clarke will play in her fifth. Mackey will be making her fourth and third consecutive appearance.
Clarke is looking for them to advance.
“I’m excited to be playing in the competition again,” Clarke said. “I’m excited to see how my teammates and I do, and looking forward to the end result. We were working hard. We put in a lot of work together and individually. I cannot wait to play against Paraguay tomorrow (today). I feel confident physically and mentally. I am much more confident mentally this year than I was last year. I have been working on some aspects of my game and I have seen improvement. I am ready to hit the courts.”
The Billie Jean King Cup team is the third Bahamian tennis team that is playing simultaneously in the Dominican Republic. The under-12 girls and boys teams are playing in the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) COTECC (Confederation of Tennis of Central America and the Caribbean) competition. The girls have a 1-2 win/loss record while the boys are winless at 0-3. Both teams will play against Puerto Rico today.