Burke
Tym Glaser, Associate Editor - Sport
JAMAICA'S QUEST to reach Davis Cup Americas Zone Group One begins on Friday at the Liguanea Club, New Kingston when the hosts take on the dangerous Dominican Republic.
After wallowing in the round-robin format of Group Three for a number of years, Jamaica last year advanced to head-to-head Group Two tennis action and just managed to avoid the drop back down.
Crushed at home by eventual champions Mexico in their opening tie, the Jamaicans rallied back from 2-0 down away to long-time rivals Puerto Rico to win their elimination tie 3-2.
The island's No.1 player, Ryan Russell, and Jermaine 'Giant' Smith combined on the second day to win the pivotal doubles, then Russell and Scott Willinsky won the reverse singles on the final day to avoid the slide back to Davis Cup 'Never-Never Land'.
This week the Jamaicans face a team which, while not boasting any big name players, reached the Group Two final last year only to be thwarted by Jamaica's conquerors, Mexico.
FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL
The tie will either push Jamaica into a battle for the sole berth in the prestigious Group One or another fight for survival.
National coach Douglas Burke, never one to get too far ahead of the situation, is quietly confident of victory.
"The first order of business is to win and consolidate our position in Group Two and then we go on from there and try to make Group One," Burke said.
"I know a fair bit about their guys. They are very solid players but if we play well and to our potential in front of our home crowd, I am sure we will do well," he said.
The Dominican Republic team will be spearheaded by 24-year-olds Johnson Garcia and Victor Estrella who boast world rankings of 1,352 and 1,470 respectively, which are nothing to write home about. But the team's Cup ranking is 45, while Jamaica are at 68 in the world.
The Dominicans also have veteran player/coach Rafael Moreno and Federico Rodriguez to pad out their squad.
Barring injury, talented leftie Russell, who boasts a superb Cup singles record of 14 wins and only three losses, and Willinsky will lead the singles charge, while Smith and Russell will more than likely team in the doubles again.
The odd man out will probably be Damar Johnson, who is currently the No.1 player for the University of Louisville, which is ranked 25 in the US NCAA Division One competition.
While praising Johnson's talent and improvement, Burke said he would probably back his veterans.
"Scott is our next guy in singles. He has played recent Futures tournaments in Florida and Challenger events in Thailand. He had a great win for us last year in Puerto Rico which clinched the tie for us, so he's coming off a good experience and his confidence must be high," Burke said.
"Jermaine and Ryan are forming a very good doubles combination with Jermaine's big serve and net play and Ryan's court speed complementing each other very well, " he said.
The Cup draw will be made at the Liguanea Club on Thursday morning with the opening singles on Friday - after a brief opening ceremony, the doubles on Saturday and the reverse singles on Sunday.
