By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Junior Davis Cup team of Jerald Carroll, Jackson Mactaggart and William McCartney won the The Bahamas’ first Junior Davis Cup Championship since 2011 at the Junior Billie Jean King Cup/Junior Davis Cup North, Central American and the Caribbean Pre-Qualifying Tournament in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

The Junior Billie Jean King Cup team finished their tourney experience ranked fourth out of 13 nations.

Junior Boys

Under the tutelage of 2021 national champion Spencer Newman, the Junior Davis Cup team excelled in the playoffs.

On Friday, they ousted Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 in the finals as Carroll and Mactaggart refused to drop a singles match to remain undefeated in tournament play. Prior to the finals, The Bahamas defeated Costa Rica 2-0 in the opening round and knocked off top seed Guatemala 2-1 in the semifinals to complete their quest to a title.

Coach Newman zeroed in on attitude, effort and focus with the juniors all week long and was happy to see it pay dividends against Trindad and Tobago.

“I am delighted to say that we won the event here but this is just the start. The boys just took care of business. The attitude, effort and focus all week long was outstanding and led us to the result we were looking for. Those three things led us to the promised land along with the boys’ ability to compete and overcome any unforeseen hurdles that we were talking about at the beginning of the week. We stayed ready so we didn’t have to get ready and ended up getting the job done so well done to the boys,” he said.

Carroll, former junior national champion, wrapped up his tournament experience in top form. On Friday, he was matched up against Trinidad’s B’Jorn Hall and defeated him 6-2, 7-6 (2).

Up next was Mactaggart who accomplished a similar feat against Trinidad’s Kalle Dalla Costa with a 6-2, 6-3 victory in straight sets to earn the hardware.

“Jerald and Jackson didn’t lose a match all week and William snuck a win in there in doubles earlier in the round robin stage. Everyone did their part and everyone did a great job. I am happy to say we got the mission accomplished and that is what we came to do,” coach Newman said.

Next up for the Junior Davis Cup team will be the Jr Davis Cup Qualifying Tournament in upcoming months. .

Junior Girls

The Billie Jean King Cup team of Takaii Adderley, Tatyana Madu and BreAnn Ferguson fought hard in the third place match against Guatemala but fell 2-1 on the final day of competition.

Adderley was dominant in the tournament and did not lose any of her six singles matches played. She dropped Guatemala’s Margaux Botran 7-5, 6-4 in tightly contested sets.

Ferguson then went up against Alison Oliva and came up short 1-6, 0-6. In the junior girls’ deciding match, Adderley and Madu went down in consecutive sets 1-6, 2-6 to conclude ranked fourth overall.

Larikah Russell, head coach of the Junior Billie Jean King Cup team, was impressed with the performances of the girls.

“I was majorly impressed with the overall performance and combined efforts of the girls throughout the tournament. Our purpose going in was to change the script. The last few years The Bahamas’ teams achieved lower end results in the BJKCJR. This became my mission after the coaches’ meeting which was held the Saturday morning before the tournament began.

“A picture was projected on the screen that showed the rankings of the top 4 girls’ teams. When I did not see The Bahamas, I was instantly bothered as we were always the team to beat. I showed them that same picture. I wanted them to see that our absence would change this week and that they would be the ones to change it with my guidance. The effort that the girls put in did exactly that,” coach Russell said.

Adderley played a pivotal role for the junior girls during their playoff run. She routed competitors from Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala in singles action to remain unbeaten. Coach Russell was proud of Adderley for the grit and determination she displayed for Team Bahamas.

“Takaii Adderley was truly the driving force for Team Bahamas. She is the ultimate team leader, humble, coachable, fierce, mentally tough and a fighter.

“Her consistent high quality performances were exceptional.”

No matter which giant she faced, she was always locked in and ready for the task at hand. Takaii not only played hours of tennis throughout the week, but played a gruelling nine sets of tennis on Thursday.

“I was wondering how in the world she was still going on the final day. I was just so amazed by her determination and grit to always get the job done,” she said.

The BLTA congratulated both teams for great competition in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Next up for tennis will be the World Juniors Championships (14U) March 2-10 in El Salvador.