BARBADOS (Commonwealth Union)_ On the weekend of February 3–4, 2023, at the National Tennis Centre in Wildey, Barbados will play host to the tennis tournament Pacific Oceania. A win is required for Barbados to stay in World Group ll of the Davis Cup competition.
After losing to visitors Ireland 3-2, which increased pressure on the national team to remain in group two, Barbados decided to host what was undoubtedly a must-win match. However, Barbados, led by Damien Applewhaite, has remained competitive in the global tennis arena for a number of years compared to other Caribbean nations. The team closest to the Bajans is Jamaica, who has qualified to face Estonia in the World Group ll playoff.
Even though the dates and location have been set, it is still unknown which athletes will join Darian King and Haydn Lewis on the national team. When the BTA holds its annual Top Eight Invitational competition in December, featuring the top players on the island, the national selection committee will have a far closer look.
The Barbados Davis Cup team, which barely lost to Ireland 3-2, had players like Xavier Lawrence, who recently won the Inspirational Academy Tennis competition, as well as Kaipo Marshall and Matthew Foster-Estwick, who are also Davis Cup competitors. Lawrence, Marshall, and Foster-Estwick are all capable players; they just need more experience playing the game. Whoever is selected to play will need to give it their all since they are aware of the stakes.
With Colin Sinclair, who is ranked 619 in the world in singles and 585 in doubles, Pacific Oceania is comparable to Barbados on paper. Australia, Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are among the other 14 nations that make up Pacific Oceania.
