By KELSIE JOHNSON, NG Sports Reporter, kelsie@nasguard.com

For far too long now, The Bahamas women's Fed Cup team has been flying under the radar, while the men's Davis Cup team receive all of the attention. However, this could change now that the Fed Cup team has advanced into the Americas Zone Group I.

The team of Larikah Russell, Nikkita Fountain, Kerri Cartwright and Elanqua Griffin prevailed in the tournament with a perfect 4-0 win/loss record. They scored wins over the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Trinidad & Tobago and Bolivia.

Russell, who led the team in both singles and doubles, finished with a 4-0 record as well. In her singles matches, she defeated Daniela Trigo 6-2 and 6-4, Raye-Ann Sandy, 6-0 and 6-2, Ashley Brooks 6-0 and 6-0, and Francesca Segarelli 7-5 and 6-3. In the doubles, Russell partnered with Fountain, and the team defeated Diana Kyllmann and Trigo 7-5 and 6-2.

The promotion has left President of the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA), Wesley Rolle, optimistic about the future of tennis in The Bahamas, especially since it has been four years since the team last competed in the tournament.

"We now move up to Zone I in the women's Fed Cup, we will play in Zone I next year April" said Rolle. "Certainly this is a very impressive win for us at this time because we haven't played Fed Cup for a couple of years. It is not that we didn't have the players, the players were off in college and they could not get releases to represent the country at that level, but now that we have Larikah Russell and Nikkita Fountain, who have finished college, they are now available to lead a team into Fed Cup. Then, we have added a couple of youngsters to that team, Elanqua Griffin, from Government High and Kerri Cartwright, who is at an academy in Florida."

Rolle also revealed that the women's program shows much depth, on the junior levels. He strongly believes that the gap has been bridged and there is still more great things to come from the group of young women. While much attention was given to The Bahamas' Davis Cup team, who will have to remain in Americas Zone Group II after losing to Paraguay, Rolle said with more play both teams are only going to get stronger.

He explained: "We are trying to get back on track with the women's team. There was a void in the senior's division, we have a lot of junior players in the girls section, but we had a void in the senior section, so this is really a boost for women's tennis in the country on the whole, being able to move out of Zone II and into Zone I, but like I said, we now have players who are available to take part in the competition and compete at this high level.

"One of the things we are going to be looking at is having these players compete in more international tournaments. Larikah Russell, she plays out on the circuit and hopefully, through the government subvention program, we can get a couple more players who will get that support which will help them to stay out for longer periods out on the pro tour, but it is tough and funding is always a problem to be able to keep the players out there so they can do the best they can. You have to be able to be out there, taking part in that level of competition.

"We are looking to have them be a part of a grouping we are trying to put together. We are looking for sponsorship in that area, where they can spend more time out there on the circuit, instead of one or two games, but our key problem is funding. We have to have the funds to be able to keep the players out on the circuit, so they can get the best out of it and get the exposure. Certainly, a win at the Fed Cup level will do a lot for them in terms of getting their names out there and letting the public know what they are capable of doing."

The Bahamas recorded their best showing in the Fed Cup tournament in 2002, when they finished in third place in the round-robin pool.