Honours even
Jamaica rebound to lock up Davis Cup tie with New Zealand
Published:Monday | February 3, 2025 | 5:14 PMOrane Buchanan - Staff Reporter
JAMAICA AND New Zealand will have it all to play for later today in their Davis Cup group II qualifier after a thrilling opening day of tennis at the Eric Bell Tennis Centre left the combatants in a 1-1 stalemate.
Affectionately known as ‘Mr. Davis Cup’, Rowland ‘Randy’ Phillips pulled off a stunning 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 (2-1) upset over the highest-ranked player in the tie, Kiranpal Pannu (494).
Phillips, unranked in singles tennis, seemed in sublime touch in the opening set but faltered in the second set as Pannu came into his own and forced Phillips into making errors. But with Jamaica’s hopes resting on his shoulders after their number-one Blaise Bicknell had lost the opener, Phillips corrected his errors en route to a superb finish, leaving spectators in awe of his stroke play, as he managed to wear down Pannu.
“I don’t know how I did it. I just love being out there and I use the energy from the crowd and allowed them to pull me through. He played a good return game in the second set, I had some chances that I didn’t take, but I was able to do it in the third. In the final set I had to stay aggressive and that’s more of my game,” said Phillips.
In the day’s opening game, Bicknell (1078) suffered a 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 (2-1) defeat to New Zealand’s Jack Loutit (919) in a fixture that was interrupted twice due to rain. Bicknell, who was playing in his first top-tier tournament since hip surgery, looked poised to end the game in straight sets but lacked an edge as the match wore on.
The Kiwi took full advantage, capitalising on Bicknell’s errors to come from behind.
According to Bicknell, an extended layoff playing competitive tennis took its toll.
“I thought I was in control. This is my first match in seven months, so I don’t think my match fitness was up to par and it showed in the second and third set. Overall, it was a good match and Jack Loutit played a good match,” he said.
Loutit seemed to agree with Bicknell’s take, saying he just had to make points go on for as long as he could.
“I knew it was his first match in a long time, so I knew the longer the match went on, the greater my chances were. He’s a good player, so my aim was to keep him out there for as long as possible,” said the Kiwi.
Action will continue later today with Bicknell and John Chin taking on Ajeet Rai and Finn Reynolds in doubles action, while the reverse singles will see Bicknell up against Pannu and Phillips against Loutit.