Tennis association commends Davis Cup team

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Antigua & Barbuda’s team to this year’s Davis Cup tennis competition has come in for high praise from the president of the national association, Cordell Williams.
The team recently returned from Uruguay where they had an uneventful tournament, winning just two sets in Group 5 of the competition.
But according to Williams, the numbers are not a true reflection of how the players performed, especially the experienced Carlton Bedminister.
“During his first match, he made a turn and fell down on his hand and his hand and fingers were swollen. When the medical doctor came out on court and advised him he should not play, he took some painkillers and he continued to battle on for the team. The reason why he continued to battle on is because we were short of a player and didn’t want to put that much pressure on young Williams to play singles and doubles,” he said.
Williams, a former player and coach, also commended the team’s youngest member and son, Cordell Williams Jr, whom he said adapted well after being called upon to play a larger than anticipated role due to the absence of one senior player, Kevin Gardner.
He also commended number one seed, Jody Maginley.
“He handled himself very well and even though the scores might reflect that he lost 6-0, during the games he was up 30-15 or 15-30 but he just did not play the big points because of the experience of playing at that level,” the tennis boss said.
“During change-over, we wanted to get him to sit down so we could slow him down but he was so anxious because he wanted to play. He played very well and Jody played extremely well for a first-timer,” he added.
The players unfamiliarity with playing on the type of courts used during the competition, Williams said, also worked against their effort.
“We played on red clay but normally when we play on clay it is the grey clay which is much slower but the red clay is more of a gummy, sticky surface. When you are playing on clay and the sun is hot it helps to dry out the clay but because of the conditions there, where it was winter like conditions with the sun out, it was very cold, so the court usually stays wet,” he said.
Antigua & Barbuda competed in the Davis Cup for the first time in over 15 years.
 
 

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