Bahamian professional tennis player Kevin Major Jr. fell in straight sets in the second round of the 24th Ostemann Cup on Friday at the Sport-Union Annen in Witten, Germany. It was his first tournament since 2019 because of the danger of the COVID-19 pandemic and first since arriving in Germany for professional training and European experience about five weeks ago.
Major currently plays for the TuS SG Sennelager Sports Club, which is based in Paderborn, Germany. He lost to Lasse Muscheites, who is a highly-ranked player in Germany, in two sets – 6-4 and 6-4.
“I was very happy with how I performed because I did a lot of things that I was not doing before under pressure. On the red clay, it is a little different. I still have to get a little more used to it and once I get used to it and understand it a little better, I will have more success on it,” Major stated. “Muscheites told me that I put him under too much pressure and that alone gives me confidence because he understood if he played a certain way, he would have lost. I know I played well. It just was not my day.”
This is Major’s maiden stint in Europe. He has been dominant on the tennis circuit in Florida, but is experiencing his first competition in Europe. After one tournament, he said playing in Germany is a lot tougher.
“For me, in Germany is a lot tougher. Normally, my tough matches come in the quarterfinals, semifinals and the finals. Here has so many players, so it is harder automatically because there are better players in the draw. It does not mean that I can’t beat them, it just means that I have to play more. These guys have been here playing much more than I have, so they are in rhythm already and I am not. It is good that I can still compete at a high level with this being my first event since 2019,” Major said.
To get to the second round, Major played against Jannik Röttlingsberger, who plays for TC Kaiserswerth club, in the first round. He won that match 6-1 and 6-1.
“I saw a lot of improvement in my game because in my first match, I played Röttlingsberger. Normally, for me, I struggle against players like that because they do not play too fast, so I have to really be focused and I was able to be completely focused from the start to the finish of the match. I handled business professionally,” Major said.
He added: “When I got here, COVID forced everything to shut down. Everything was open before I came but when I came, everything closed because the COVID-19 positive cases increased. Everything is opening back up and now we can have tournaments. The league that I was set to play in, the time for that got pushed back.”
Major managed to play in one friendly match, which he won easily, 6-0, 6-0 and 6-0. He played in the fourth league instead of the third, and his team won a narrow 5-4 meeting thanks to the doubles win.
The 26-year-old has been using his time in Germany to work on individual play with head coach Elwald Spaaij. Major trains for two hours every morning and two hours each afternoon, except on Sundays. He also works on his fitness.
“I have been working on being more aggressive and letting my shots fly instead of worrying about the outcome. In doing so, I have improved because the shots I go for, land as much as I want them to,” Major said. “The pandemic treated me fairly well. I stayed positive throughout it. I worked on things that I needed to work on. I am excited to test those things out to see what’s working and what’s not working.”
As for his next game, Major is waiting on the schedule to see where he will play next. He said he still has a few more aspects to work on before going on tour in Germany. He knows that when he plays in more tournaments, he will become more efficient.
Major is making a return to Davis Cup play for the first time in five years. He has a 4-7 overall win/loss record in singles and a 1-0 mark in doubles. The reigning Bahamas’ National Champion is ranked in the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Rankings, tied for 1589 in the latest rankings.
Also on that senior national men’s team are Justin Roberts, Baker Newman and team captain Marvin Rolle. They will play in the Americas Group III from June 30 to July 3 at the Centro de Alto Rendimiento Fred Maduro in Panama City, Panama.
“I’m happy to be back on the team to make some things happen again,” Major said. “We all stay in communication with each other. All four of us are cool. It is easier to get along. I am confident that the team is going to make a deep run because of who is on the team and coaching it. I have seen these guys working before and what they are capable of. All of us bring something different to the table in terms of matchups – we match up well against any other country. It should be fun.”
The top two nations from the Davis Cup Americas Group III competition, featuring 12 teams from around the region, will contest the 2022 World Group II Playoffs.
After the Davis Cup, the right-handed player will return to Paderborn to get in some more matches as he continues his professional tennis career.
The post Major bows out in second round in Germany appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/major-bows-out-in-second-round-in-germany/
No comments:
Post a Comment