By BRENT STUBBS

Chief Sports Editor

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

They still haven’t found out where and when they will play their American Zone Four Tie, but the Bahamas men’s Davis Cup team is making sure they will be ready when the time comes.

The quartet of Denali Nottage, Michael Major Jr, Donte Armbrister and Kofi Bowe continue to work out together at the John McEnroe Tennis Center at Baha Mar in anticipation of the tie.

At yesterday’s session, they were all upbeat as they went through a vigorous training session, albeit without a coach or captain as the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association has yet to name one.

For each player, it’s just a matter of making sure that they stick together and practice together as a team, despite all of the uncertainties.

“The practices have been going great. We’re just getting better and better day by day,” said Nottage, who sits right now as the top seeded player on the team by virtue of winning the BLTA’s annual Giorgio Baldacci Tennis Tournament in December.

Although it’s not known exactly how they will play during the tie, Nottage, who plays on the pro circuit, said they have decided to work on their doubles strategies during the practices.

“We’re training every day, but we’re just hoping that we don’t end up playing on clay because that could throw us off a bit,” said Nottage as they currently train on hard courts.

For Armbrister, who earned his spot during the recent tournament this year at the NTC as well to complete the team, said over the past few weeks, they have been putting in the work together.

“We’ve been practicing, working on our chemistry, so when we go off, we will be able to represent the country to the best of our abilities,” said Armbrister, who just graduated this year from Hampton University. 

There are some light-hearted moments during the practices, but they are also intense, according to Armbrister, which makes each session that much tougher.

“Every practice, we’re here giving it our all,” he said. 

“For this level, we will probably play in the summer, so we have some time. We just need to make sure that we are ready as a team.”

Bowe, considered the rookie member of the Davis Cup team, said he’s just thrilled to be making his debut with such a talented group of players, whom he’s been around since he started playing tennis.

“It’s been good since this has been a year since I played in college,” said Bowe, who graduated last year from Johnson C Smith University. “In the past couple of months I’ve had some hard training with these guys.

“And every day, it seems we’re getting stronger and stronger as a team. This is a good group of guys. We have been around since we were juniors and now we are getting a chance to play at the highest level for the country. So I’m proud to be on the team with them.”

And Major Jr, who also secured his spot on the team in December, said they have been putting in a lot of solid work on and off the court to ensure they are ready. “We’re trying to train as hard as we can,” he said. “We’ve been testing our bodies and testing our endurances so that we can be in the best possible shape when we go.”

Home for the summer from Howard University where he’s playing college tennis, Major Jr said they can only control the things they can control, so they can’t worry about when and where they will play.

“We just have to put in as much work as we can so we will be ready when we get the call,” he said. “But the guys are looking solid. We can’t wait to get out there and play.”