Jamaica get ready for Davis Cup Group III qualifiers
Published:Friday | June 14, 2024 | 12:09 AMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
THE FIVE-MEMBER team of Blaise Bicknell, John Chin, Daniel Azar, Keyondre Clarke, and Kyle Clarke are in Paraguay gearing up for Davis Cup Group Three qualifiers, set to begin on Monday.
John Azar, president of Tennis Jamaica, says, while he’s expecting a tough battle from his opponents, he has full confidence in Jamaica’s quintet.
“We know the competition is going to be tough, as there will be nine teams going for three spots. However, we’re confident that our guys are well prepared and, once they execute well on match days, they will get the results that we’re expecting,” said Azar.
Team Jamaica will engage in battle against hosts Paraguay, Costa Rica, Bermuda, Bahamas, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. Despite leaving the island a day late, Azar explained that the team will still have three solid days of preparation.
“There were some issues with the requisite visas to enter Paraguay when the members of the team were departing on Wednesday afternoon. It did delay us by a day but, God willing, we will have three solid days, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, before the matches start on Monday. Therefore, while it was a little hiccup, we certainly don’t expect it to have a major impact on the team’s preparations,” he added.
Jamaica will know their opponents on Sunday.
“There are some teams that we have our eyes on. The actual draw will take place on Sunday and, while the captain (Noel Rutherford) and players have their preferences, we’ll take nothing for granted, as every team going there is going with the same intention in mind, and that is to be promoted. While we expect tough competition, we have full confidence in our guys because they’re well prepared.”
That preparation, Azar says, was, in part, down to the three weeks of ITF M15000 tournaments that were hosted in Jamaica.
“We have some good advantages, as we were able to host three international tournaments here in Kingston. That allowed three of the top players to get good match exposure, and also allowed the technical team to see them under match conditions. Since those tournaments ended, two of the players went overseas to train on the clay courts.”