Home|Sports|The Bahamas victorious over Panama 2-0 to stay in Group IIISports
Simba FrenchSend an emailJune 26, 2023 91 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
After dropping their first three ties to start the Davis Cup tournament, The Bahamas found its winning ways and ended the tournament with its second straight win with a 2-0 victory over Panama in the promotional playoffs, to remain in Group III at the Club Internacional de Tenis in Asuncion, Paraguay on Saturday.
The Bahamas came into the day in fourth position in Group III Pool B with a 1-3 win/loss record. Panama was fourth in Pool A with a 0-3 record and did not win a set all tournament. The fourth-place teams in each pool were playing for a chance to remain in Group III since a chance to be promoted to Group II slipped away.
Playing on the clay courts, The Bahamas’ team of Denali Nottage, Kevin Major Jr., Donte Armbrister and Marvin Rolle ensured that Panama stayed winless in the tournament and did not let them win a set. The doubles team of Armbrister and Rolle was not needed on the court, as Nottage and Major were superb in the singles for The Bahamas.
Taking the court first in number two singles was Nottage. The rookie got his first Davis Cup match win on Thursday in the tie against Honduras. Saturday saw him playing against Luis Ching. He quickly disposed of the Panamanian in less than an hour when he came away with a 6-1 and 6-3 victory.
The Bahamian won the first four games in the first set to take a convincing 4-0 lead. Ching won the next game and Nottage won the next two games to take the 6-1 victory. The second set was more competitive as Nottage held a 2-1 lead after the first three games. Nottage then took a 4-3 lead before ending the set on a two-game win streak.
Nottage won 79 percent of his first serve points in the match. Nottage won 61 total points compared to Ching’s 37 points.
Major was in action in the number one singles slot against Luis Gomez. He took down the Panamanian 6-3 and 6-4 to clinch the tie victory for The Bahamas. Major was efficient in dismantling his opponent coming away with 88 percent of his first serve points compared to his opponent who won 68 percent of his first serve points.
The first set saw Major jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead before Gomez tried to make it an interesting game as Major leading 5-3 as the two battled. Major won the next game to claim the 6-3 first set win. The second set saw Major facing a better version of Gomez as the match was tied at three games apiece. After the match was tied at four games each, Major put a stop to the match when he won 6-4 in that set.
Prior to winning their tie against Honduras 3-0 on Thursday, The Bahamas lost 0-3 to Costa Rica on Wednesday, which was a follow-up from a 0-3 loss to the host country on Tuesday. The Bahamians lost the first match on Monday, 1-2, to the Dominican Republic.
The tournament wrapped up on Saturday.