Davis Cup

Chin, a two-time representative on Jamaica's Davis Cup team, is preparing for another Davis Cup battle on February 4-5, when Jamaica takes on Estonia on home turf.

Chin, a former top junior made a strong professional debut in the second half of last year. While still only 18 years old, he played through the qualifying round and into the semi-finals of a Men's $25,000 tournament in the Dominican Republic in his first ever professional competition.

 Then in November 2022, partnering with Miles Jones of the USA, he recorded his first professional doubles win in Santo Domingo. Playing against Aydan Gomez-Osorio (Netherlands) and Kaipo Marshall of Barbados, Chin and Miles won in straight sets 6-1, 7-6.

 "The transition from the junior circuit to the pro circuit is definitely a step up in skill level," says the Mandeville native who is trained locally by Ryan Russell of Russell Tennis Academy.

 "It is very challenging but I will continue to work on my game and hopefully improve my ranking this year."

 Having reached a Junior ITF (International Tennis Federation) career high ranking of 211, Chin hopes to eventually better that on the pro circuit.

He ended 2022 ranked 1019 on the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Men's Singles pro tour.

He played his freshman year of college tennis at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in 2021-2022, where he went undefeated at 8-0 in the spring season.

MTSU ended the year ranked in the top 20 of NCAA Division 1 men's tennis. After one season with the Tennessee college Chin decided to transfer to Boise State University (BSU) in Idaho where he will wear the colours of the Broncos.

"I am looking forward to training with the Boise men's tennis team. I want to make an impact on the team and to help BSU reach our goals for the 2023 spring season and beyond." BSU's head coach Luke Shields and assistant coach Alexander Free both have excellent reputations as coaches and I expect to do well under their tutelage." says Chin.

He is one of only three Jamaican men who are currently ranked on the ATP tour. Blaise Bicknell leads the group as the highest ranked player at 764, with Chin second at 1019, followed by Rowland 'Randy' Phillips at 1398. All three men are again slated to play for Jamaica in the tie against Estonia.

Russia, who won both competitions in 2021, have been suspended from competing in international team events following the country's invasion of Ukraine.

As the highest-ranked losing semi-finalist from last year, Serbia will take Russia's place in the Davis Cup Finals.

The wild card previously handed to Serbia will now go to one of the 12 nations knocked out in the qualifiers that took place earlier this month.

Likewise, as the highest-ranked side among the 2021 losing Billie Jean King Cup semi-finalists, Australia will replace Russia in that competition.

Australia were due to take part in April's qualifiers, but opponents Slovakia will now receive a bye and advance directly to the Finals.

Belarus have also been barred from competing in both events, meaning Belgium will receive a walkover in their qualifying match and advance to the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

ATP world number one Nadal starred in Spain's triumph at the Davis Cup - organised by the ITF - in November, but he and his country were on the losing side at the inaugural ATP Cup on Sunday, going down to Novak Djokovic's Serbia.

The Spaniard enjoyed the new tournament but suggested the two competitions were a source of confusion.

"[The ATP Cup] is a long competition. It's a tough way to start the season," Nadal said. "I don't know. I think it's a great competition but, at the same time, I can't change my mind.

"Two world cups in [just over] one month is not real. It's not possible. So, we need to find a way to fix it and we need to find a way to make a big deal with ITF and ATP to create a big world team cup competition, not two world cups in one month.

"I think that's confusing for the spectators. We need to be clear in our sport.

"And for the health of our sport and the benefit of our sport, in my opinion, it is mandatory that we fix it.

"I think it is a great competition. I am excited to be part of it, excited to represent my country.

"I enjoyed sharing the week with my friends on the team. The organisation has been fantastic, honestly, everything as good as possible. Just, in my mind, we need to create one thing and not two."

Meanwhile, Nadal was unhappy with some sections of the crowd in Sydney, where a partisan Serbian contingent roared on rival Djokovic, who beat the world number one 6-2 7-6 (7-4) in the second singles rubber, before joining forces with Viktor Troicki to beat Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 in the doubles decider.

"Honestly, the crowd was fantastic every single day," Nadal continued. "But, sometimes, people from some countries, they probably don't understand how tennis is.

"They think it is more like football, but the atmosphere in tennis is different. The respect for the players should be there. At some point, the respect - from a small part of the crowd - was not there."

Draper’s run to the fourth round of the US Open earned him not just a second Great Britain call-up but a first appearance, with Smith picking him ahead of his top-ranked player Cameron Norrie and former world number one Andy Murray.

The Lawn Tennis Association reported ticket sales of more than 9,000 for the tie at the AO Arena and the crowd were treated to an exciting clash, with Draper breaking Kokkinakis when he served for the match before coming through a deciding tie-break to win 6-7 (6) 6-3 7-6 (4).

They were on their feet when Draper drilled a final backhand winner down the line after two hours and 52 minutes to give Britain the perfect start against last year’s finalists.

Speaking on court, Draper said: “There’s nothing better. It was a real battle, massive crowd in here. It’s amazing to play my first Davis Cup tie in the UK in this sort of arena. I’m just so happy to be here and grateful Leon trusted me and put me out here today.”

Like Draper, 27-year-old Kokkinakis knows all too well how much physical frailty can stymie a career but he is a player with big weapons who has had some standout victories.

He won the Australian Open doubles title last year with his good friend Nick Kyrgios, while in Melbourne this year he and Murray contested a near six-hour duel ending after 4am.

It took a few games for the two 6ft 4in powerhouses to find their rhythm, with Draper forced to save two break points in his second service game.

He settled well thereafter, particularly on serve, and he had a set point on the Kokkinakis serve at 4-5 only for a backhand down the line to catch the top of the tape and drop wide.

The tie-break was as tight as the 12 games that preceded it but, after saving one set point with a big serve, Draper was unable to prevent Kokkinakis taking the second.

The set had taken more than an hour so it was a blow to Draper to lose it but he responded in the perfect fashion, taking advantage of a loose game from his opponent to claim the first break at the start of the second.

The 21-year-old was virtually untouchable on serve now while his heavy forehand was mopping up the ones that did come back.

He broke again to take the set and had all the momentum at the start of the decider but Kokkinakis dug in and looked to have made the crucial move at 4-4, taking advantage of an untimely dip from Draper to break.

However, closing out matches has never been the Australian’s strong point and back came Draper, a huge roar greeting the re-break.

The young British player produced the shot of the match in the next game, channelling Carlos Alcaraz by chasing to retrieve a lob and sending the ball back at full stretch past a bewildered Kokkinakis.

Draper looked in trouble when he trailed 4-2 in the tie-break but he roared back with five points in a row.

Murray needed all his nous to grind out a 6-7 (7) 6-4 6-4 victory in three hours and 10 minutes at Manchester’s AO Arena, giving Great Britain a 1-0 lead over Switzerland.

At the end of what had been a light-hearted on-court interview, the Scot choked up, revealing the added significance of his victory.

“Today is a tough day for me, it’s my gran’s funeral today,” he said. “I’m sorry to my family that I’m not able to be there but gran, this one’s for you.”

Murray then returned to his bench where he sat sobbing into his towel.

It made his efforts in coming through another long and tense battle even more impressive.

Murray had only lost three of his previous 35 singles matches in the competition and never to a player ranked as low as world number 152 Riedi, but the big-hitting 21-year-old produced a performance well above that.

Having seen his gamble to play debutant Jack Draper and Dan Evans handsomely pay off in Wednesday’s victory over Australia, captain Leon Smith made use of his options by naming Murray and Cameron Norrie as his singles players here.

Evans’ 0-5 record against Wawrinka may have played a part in his thinking along perhaps with caution not to overplay Draper considering his physical fragility this year.

Murray played singles against Kazakhstan at the same stage last year but only once Britain were already eliminated, making this his first live singles rubber in the competition since 2019 and only his second in seven years.

Switzerland also sprung a surprise by picking Riedi ahead of their number two Dominic Stricker, and Murray admitted that had thrown him having prepared to face a left-hander.

After negotiating an 11-minute first game, the Scot broke serve immediately and had a chance to open up a 4-0 lead.

He could not take it, though, and Riedi worked his way into the contest, beginning to cause Murray increasing problems with his big forehand and aggressive tactics.

They earned him a break back when the Scot served for the set at 5-3, and Murray was then unable to take two set points in the tie-break, Riedi converting his first opportunity with his 22nd winner.

The young Swiss, who had never previously beaten a top-50 player, had his tail up and Murray kicked his bag in frustration after failing to break in the third game of the second set.

He finally made the breakthrough at 3-3 when Riedi double-faulted, only for the 21-year-old to leave his opponent rooted to the spot with a series of blistering returns.

Undeterred, Murray engineered another break and this time held onto it with trademark grim determination to level the match.

The 36-year-old has been in similar situations hundreds of times during his career and ultimately experience won out, although it was still nip and tuck, with Murray slamming his racket to the court after handing an early break back in the decider.

He broke again to lead 3-2, though, and quashed Riedi’s hopes of a comeback by taking his first match point with an ace.

Murray said: “It’s obviously incredible to get through that one, it easily could have gone the other way.

“It was ridiculous the shots he was pulling off, amazing, amazing returning. I kept fighting and tried to stay focused and managed to turn it round.”

“That is something we’re very proud of,” said Tennis Jamaica President John Azar at a press conference on Thursday.

“I would say that prior to 2019, the last time that Jamaica had qualified for the Group 2 qualifiers in the Davis Cup was 2009 so, in the past three years we have qualified which clearly speaks to, in my mind, hopefully we’re doing something right for the future. This event will be a first-class production,” he added.

Jamaica will be represented by Blaise Bicknell, Jacob Bicknell, Daniel Azar, Randy Phillips and John Chin and the captain/coach is Mel Spence.

“We’re confident that we have a strong team for this tie,” Azar said.

“It’s a well-balanced team of youth and experience and I’m very happy with their preparation,” he added.

The Estonian team is expected to arrive on the island next Monday while some of the Jamaican team will arrive on the island two days later due to college commitments.

While some may view this as a disadvantage, Coach Spence believes the morale of the team remains as high as ever.

“Thank God for technology. We speak to each other on a daily basis. We’re sending videos to each other of workouts that we’re doing or what our opponents may be doing. We’re keeping the vibe up so thank God for technology. We’re able to keep that bond despite being thousands of miles away from each other,” Spence said.

The matches get underway at 3:00pm Jamaica time on Saturday and 1:00pm on Sunday.

The hosts got Tuesday’s tie off to a winning start with Kamran McIntosh-Ross securing a dominant 6-0, 7-5 win over Tomas Del Olmo in an hour and 21 minutes.

McIntosh-Ross had an excellent day on serve, winning 80% of his first serve points and saving all three break points faced.

The 20-year-old also was able to break Del Olmo’s serve four times.

Overall, the Trinidadian won 71 points compared to Del Olmo’s 47.

USVI levelled proceedings at 1-1 when Jan Neuburger-Higby beat Luca Shamsi 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour.

Neuburger-Higby won 79% of his first serve points and converted all four of his break opportunities on Shamsi’s serve on his way to a comfortably victory.

The tie then came down to a doubles match between T&T’s Kale Dalla Costa and Alijah Leslie and USVI’s Del Olmo and Neuburger-Higby which the USVI pair dominated on the way to a 6-2, 6-3 victory.

The day’s first match of the tie saw Jamaica’s Rowland “Randy” Phillips dominate Estonia’s top ranked player Kristjan Tamm 6-1, 6-1 in just one hour to give the hosts the lead.

“Very solid and consistent on my part,” said Phillips on his performance after the match.

Phillips noted that he did not expect such a one-sided match on paper as he is currently ranked 1387 in the ATP rankings while Tamm is much higher at 663.

“It went a lot better than expected. He’s a tough opponent and maybe he didn’t play his best today but I took advantage of my opportunities,” he said.

“I think the atmosphere unsettled him. The crowd helped me out a lot and gave me energy,” he added.

With Jamaica hosting a Davis Cup tie for the first time since 2007, Phillips also spoke about what it meant to play at home.

“Extremely special. It’s a dream come true. Looking over and seeing my family and friends after points kept me locked in and focused for sure,” Phillips said.

With Phillips already in the win column, it was time for Blaise Bicknell, Jamaica’s highest ranked player at number 769 in the ATP rankings, to take the court against Kenneth Raisma who is ranked number 1640.

It was the Estonian who was in the ascendancy early, racing out to a quick 3-0 lead before taking the first set 6-4.

Bicknell was not done, however, and rallied to take the second set by a similar score before overwhelming his Estonian counterpart in the third, winning 6-0 and securing the lead for the Jamaicans heading into Sunday. The match lasted an hour and 46 minutes.

Jamaica has a chance to clinch the tie on Sunday when Phillips and Bicknell take on Raisma and Jurgen Zopp in doubles.

The 34-year-old Zopp, who retired from professional tennis in 2020, achieved a career high ATP ranking of 71 back in 2012 and reached the third round of the French Open in 2018.

The match gets underway at 1:00pm (2:00pm ECT) and can be viewed on the SportsMax TV YouTube channel.