By Neto Baptiste
Antigua and Barbuda’s lone professional tennis player, Jody Maginley, has commended teammate Cordell Williams Jr and others for the level of play exhibited during the recently ended Davis Cup tournament held in Trinidad.
Speaking on the Good Morning Jojo sports show, Maginley said young Williams held his own in their doubles loss to Guatemala adding that he generally felt less pressured to carry the load throughout the competition.
“I am a little bit disappointed I couldn’t help out CJ as much on Friday against Guatemala because I believe that’s where it took a turn. If we won on Friday against Guatemala then we would have had an easier promotion match but instead we lost to a tougher team. I was very impressed with CJ because sometimes I feel pressured to have to play really well in the doubles depending on the situation but I felt like this year, I didn’t really have to carry the team as much on the doubles court because CJ played well, he took care of his business on his half of the court so it took some pressure off of me,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda just missed promotion from Group IV to Group III following a 2-0 loss to Puerto Rico in their promotion match on Saturday.
Finishing second in Pool A of Group IV after winning two and losing one of their three matches, Antigua and Barbuda went under to the number one team in Pool B, Puerto Rico, in their two singles clash.
Maginley, however, does not share the views of Captain, Cordell Williams Sr that a day off last Thursday may have upset the team’s rhythm.
“The day off for me personally, it helped me although I wasn’t fully recovered by the next day but we lost to Guatemala very closely. We split the singles points because I actually three matches where I won singles on Friday against Guatemala and then we lost a close doubles point,” the player said.
“We actually had set points in the first set. CJ was playing the odd court, so I didn’t get to see a ball in that rally, but CJ made a good point where he made a good return and the guys put away a good volley; but that is how tennis goes. It was a close match so I don’t necessarily know if it’s about losing momentum, it’s more that physically we were a little more tired at the end of the week because we can’t rotate our team as much as the other teams can,” he added.
Ranked 650 in doubles and 1174 in singles, Maginley believes he is in the best condition of his career.
“It’s the most consistent I’ve been. I haven’t had the results but I truly believe it’s right around because you can see a lot of good scores against good players. So I just make sure I don’t lose the momentum that I have. I have to keep believing in the process because I’ve been playing really well and I’ve had more of an identity this year than I’ve ever had in my life which is important. When you see Golden State Warriors play and you know exactly their system and how they perform so even if they lose a game here or there you know that nine times out of 10 that this is the play that is going to work and that’s kind of how I feel about my tennis game right now. I have an identity,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda’s team comprised Cordell Williams (Captain), Jody Maginley, Cordell Williams Jr, Rodaine Monelle and Ron Murrain.