President of Tennis Jamaica John Azar is pleased with the team’s performance in their recently concluded Davis Cup Group Two playoff match against Estonia at the Eric Bell National Tennis Centre in Kingston from February 4-5.
The Jamaicans won the tie 3-2 to advance to group two of the Davis Cup for the first time in over 25 years.
“I think the team played incredibly well. It’s one thing when we as the national association set the big stage for them but it’s another thing when they actually come out and perform,” Azar told SportsMax.TV.
Rowland “Randy” Phillips got the ball rolling for the hosts with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 victory over Kristjan Tamm, a win that Azar said set the tone for the rest of the tie.
“Randy Phillips played the first match and set the tone for the players that played after him. He was incredible as he always is,” said Azar.
Match two saw Jamaican number one Blaise Bicknell come from a set down to beat Kenneth Raisma 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 and put the Jamaicans 2-0 up.
The Estonians got on the board in match three when Raisma and Jurgen Zopp got the better of John Chin and Daniel Azar in doubles 6-1, 6-2 before Bicknell secured victory for the Jamaicans after Tamm was defaulted after losing a first set tiebreak in match four. Johannes Seeman got a consolation 6-1, 6-0 victory over Jacob Bicknell in the fifth match.
Azar was also elated with the crowd turnout at the tie, the first time Jamaica has hosted a Davis Cup tie since 2007.
“I think it was what we expected and more,” he said.
“The crowd turned out in their numbers, were loud and very supportive and, as I’ve always said, when you have a home tie in any sport, the crowd can tend to be a bit of a deciding factor so we’re definitely grateful for those who came out and showed their support. There were a lot of Tennis fans in attendance but also a lot of sporting fans in general,” he added.
The team will find out their next opponent at the group two draw at the ITF office in London.
“We’re into group two which is a stage we haven’t been for over 25 years so we’ll see when the draw, which is done at the ITF office in London, comes out who our next opponent is. I think the next tie will be in September and we’ll see if it’s a home or away tie. Obviously, we’re hoping it will be a home tie and, if we’re that fortunate, we’ll look into expanding the capacity at the Tennis centre and hope for an even bigger turnout.”