Davis Cup hopes with King, Lewis

Veteran tennis referee Jimi Cardona (left) making the draw for the opening singles match next to Barbados Tennis Association president Dr Raymond Forde (second left), while Darren King (right) and Davis Cup captain Kevin Yarde look on. (Picture by Kenmore Bynoe.)

By Justin Marville | Fri, February 10, 2012 - 12:03 AM

Hopefully Darian King and Haydn Lewis spent time working on their shoulders.

Barbados’ hopes are about to rest squarely on them.

The country’s top two tennis players will be more than bearing the brunt of Davis Cup duty again, having been asked to play the singles, doubles and reverse singles of Barbados’ historic Group II tie against Paraguay.

Seasoned referee Jimi Cardona revealed Barbados’ decision to play the duo for all their matches during yesterday’s match draw ahead of the opening singles today at the National Tennis Centre, Wildey, St Michael.

“Haydn just came from winning a tournament and he’s confident and Darian is always confident that he will win any match he plays,” said non-playing captain Kevin Yarde.

“But Anthony [Marshall] and Seanon [Williams] were working hard while Haydn and Darian weren’t here so I believe they can get the job done if need be.”

“I’m pretty confident in the whole team because this is the team that got us here and I know that they will give of their best,” he added.

It’s not the first time the squad will be leaning heavily on its two ATP-ranked pros, as Lewis and King regularly played all of the Davis Cup matches while Barbados were seeking promotion from Group III.

But those matches were played under the three-set format, and fatigue will definitely play a factor now that the duo will be asked to play three straight days of best-of-five set tennis.

“You don’t feel tired when you win,” Yarde joked.

“The guys are in shape, they’re fit and they should be alright. I’m not really worried about the fatigue factor [though] recovery is going to be important but I think we have the things in place to handle that.”

It doesn’t help matters any that none of the four players are accustomed to playing five-set matches either, even though Lewis, King and Marshall have all played professionally.

“That’s a new thing for all of us but we’ve done it in practice before, though I know it is a different situation when it’s a match,” said Lewis of adjusting to playing five sets.

“We just have to stick to the plans that we have and not really look at it as [playing] five sets because then that might seem like a journey.”

They won’t be the only ones making the step up from three-set matches, as Paraguay’s players are also quite foreign to taking the court for best-of-five games.

And the South American side, which is renowned for clay court players, will be at a further disadvantage playing away from home on Barbados’ hard courts.

“We played last year in Puerto Rico on their hard courts and in The Bahamas a few years ago and we’ve played so many times on hard courts so the conditions are very good [for us],” reasoned Paraguay’s non-playing captain Victor Pecci.

“It may be very windy but that’s about it.”

King, currently ranked 723rd in the world, is set to open proceedings today at 10 a.m. against Paraguay No. 2 Juan Crosa, who was rated as high as 767th in the ATP singles ranking.

Lewis will play Paraguay No. 1 Daniel Lopez in the following singles match before Lewis and King return to the court tomorrow take on Jose Benitez and Gustavo Ramirez in the tie’s lone doubles match.

The duo will then swap singles opponents for the reverse singles on Sunday, although both sides are allowed to change the line-ups up to one hour ahead of each day’s play.