Jamaica ready for big Davis Cup clash
Published:Monday | February 3, 2025 | 5:09 PMOrane Buchanan/Staff Reporter
President of Tennis Jamaica, John Azar, says the country’s five-member team of Blaise Bicknell, John Chin, Daniel Azar, Rowland Phillips and Nicholas Gore is fully “prepared” for their opponents, New Zealand, in their Davis Cup Group II playoff which starts at 11 a.m. today at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre in Cross Roads.
“I think the guys are motivated and are ready to go that extra step. They’re well prepared, no questions about that, so we’re looking forward to a strong performance over the next two days. This is probably the best prepared team I’ve been around. They look solid and I’m sure they’ll give their best,” Azar said at yesterday’s press conference on the eve of the start of the tie.
Today’s opening singles will see Jamaica’s Blaise Bicknell going up against New Zealand’s Jack Loutit followed by a clash between Rowland ‘Randy’ Phillips and New Zealand’s Kiranpai Pannu.
Tomorrow’s doubles action will see Jamaica’s pair of Blaise Bicknell and Chin clashing with Pannu and Finn Reynolds. The reverse singles tie will see Blaise Bicknell up against Ajeet Rai and Phillips against Loutit. Noel Rutherford, captain of Team Jamaica, agreed that the preparation phase was spot on and it’s now down to the players to showcase their skill set in front of the home fans.
“I really think we couldn’t ask for more when it comes to preparation as we had it covered. It will come down to how much we want it and if we go out there and believe in ourselves miracles can happen. You need good nerve management and I want my players to go out there and play the correct game,” he explained.
Artem Sitak, head coach of Team New Zealand, stated that he’s aware that the Jamaican team is a good one but is backing his group of Loutit, Rai, Reynolds, Pannu and Klintch Arov to secure a victory.
“Jamaica is a very good team and home court advantage will do a lot. I think a very high level of tennis will be played over the weekend and I’m looking forward to it. We know it’s going to be very loud and these will be moments that you’ll remember for a long time. We are definitely ready as everyone is feeling good,” Sitak added.
Questions are being asked about the fitness of Jamaica’s top seed Bicknell who recently had a surgery done on his hip. According to him, he’s fully ready for the battle that lies ahead.
“I haven’t played in a while but my body is feeling good. I’m ready to go and the team is well prepared, in good spirits and just want to win this one,” he shared.
Twenty-six teams will be playing over this weekend for 13 places in the World Group II. The 13 winning teams from the play-offs will qualify for the World Group II and the 13 losing teams will play in Group III of their continental zone.
New Zealand, who are ranked at 46, are favourites to get past the 70th-ranked Jamaica. For today’s singles Jamaica’s Bicknell is ranked at 1018 while New Zealand’s Loutit has a 919 ranking. In the second singles Phillips, who has a career high ranking just past 1200, goes up against Pannu who has a current ranking of 494.