After the COVID-19 pandemic postponed the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas, formerly the Fed Cup, in 2020, the Bahamas women’s national tennis team is prepared for match play at Centro de Alto Rendimiento Fred Maduro in Panama City, Panama set for June 23-26.
The Bahamas will be represented by a strong team in Kerrie Cartwright (player captain), Simone Pratt, Sydney Clarke and Elana Mackey. Mackey was added on the team back in early May when Larikah Russell opted out of the team.
The team sans Pratt who is in Grand Bahama, was practicing yesterday morning at the National Tennis Center and made themselves available to the local media. Pratt is set to join the team in New Providence on Friday as they all head for Panama on Saturday. They will have three days to practice and build a better chemistry before the tournament gets underway.
“I want us to go out there and play our best,” Cartwright said. “I have played against all three of my teammates many times. I am looking for us to go play our full potential and to go out there and win – that is what we want. That is definitely what the goal is.”
The veteran added: “Every day is a different day. Every day you go out there and you do not know what the other player can bring whenever you playing. Right now we just have to put in that hard work and hopefully next week, it can all come to fruition.”
This is definitely not the 29-year-old’s first rodeo. She made her debut back in 2008 and this will be her ninth time representing The Bahamas at the tournament. She played in 29 ties and has a 19-8 win-loss record in the singles and 8-6 record in the doubles.
The team will play in the Americas Group II Event A that has seven teams. The other teams are Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Panama and Uruguay. They will compete in two Pools, one with four teams and one with three teams. The winners of each pool will play-off to determine which nation will advance to Americas Group I.
Event B that was set to be in La Paz, Bolivia beginning today will play at a later date in the year because of the COVID-19 situation in Bolivia.
The Bahamas has reached the final in the 2019 and 2018 editions but fell 0-2 both times. Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association president, Perry Newton said the tennis community is excited and he has high expectations for this team.
“Everybody is excited,” Newton said. “The whole tennis community is excited. The team is excited. This is a quality team. The ladies for the past few years have been placing second in this event. We are hoping that for this year we have a little bit more experience.”
He continued: “The bar is very high for us. We are probably the top-seeded team in this event because of our placement in the last two years and in the world we are ranked at number 55. I have high expectations and expect us to make it to the finals and once we get there, we will try to close it off and get promoted for next year.”
Clarke is a former national champion and has played in two tournaments – 2019 and 2017. The 18-year-old had a solid freshman collegiate season under her belt for the University of Alabama at Birmingham earlier this year. She will look to use her added skills and experience in Panama City.
“I know that being able to play from the beginning of this year has given me a boost of confidence and now I even feel very comfortable going. I do not feel nervous or pressured because I know that I am prepared. I have been training and making the necessary preparations to play. I am looking forward to showing off my skills when we get to Panama.”
She added: “I know that it is a higher level than college and junior. I know that I need to be more explosive and tougher mentally. I know that I have been doing that and ready to be able to compete with my peers in the competition.”
The top junior tennis player in the country said that she would have liked to have Pratt in New Providence this week but she knows that everyone has been working hard behind the scenes. Clarke also said that they just have to stick together and keep their chemistry to be successful next week.
Mackey has made her only appearance at this tournament back in 2017. The 18-year-old just completed her first season for the Mars Hill University in Mars Hill, North Carolina. She is optimistic in the quartet and feels that she has improved her play this past season.
“I am looking forward to us finishing first, I think we will do very well in the tournament. The four of us are good players and very competitive. We can make a very long run in this tournament,” Mackey said.
She continued. “I have improved on my movement on the court and getting more balls back in play so I can keep the points longer to have a better chance at winning the point. I also think that I have improved on my doubles play and volleying skills.”
Though she did not play in any tournaments since 2019, Cartwright, a new mother, said that she has been getting in a lot of tennis.
“I’m not in a bad shape but I definitely can be better as always,” Cartwright said. “Every day I have been playing about five times a week. I have my boyfriend who is a professional tennis coach so I have been playing with him and where I work has a lot of great players so I play sets and matches all the time whenever I go to work, so that is an everyday thing. I definitely get match play. It is just not the tournament match play in. I am definitely still in shape. I go to the gym all the time.”
Cartwright, Mackey and Clarke love playing for their country and see it as a joy to represent The Bahamas.
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source https://thenassauguardian.com/team-bahamas-ready-for-billie-jean-king-cup/
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