Race reappointed Davis Cup captain

After guiding the Pacific Oceania team to a berth in the semifinals of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II competition this year, the CNMI’s very own Jeff Race was rewarded by being reappointed as the islanders’ captain for 2006.

“I’m honored to be appointed again. Being a Davis Cup captain is the ultimate honor for a tennis coach. Being captain for this group of guys is even better,” said the Chapman University alumnus shortly after receiving an e-mail about his reappointment from Patrick O’Rourke, Oceania Tennis Federation executive officer.

Race, who also served as playing coach of the CNMI National Tennis Team in the recent 2005 Palau South Pacific Mini Games, said he remains upbeat about Pacific Oceania’s chances in next year’s 2006 Davis Cup competition and even intimated that OTF is doing all it can to form a competitive team.

“I think they’re going to make this the best Davis Cup team in Pacific Oceania history, even better than last year. Everyone is so motivated after our success in Davis Cup and the players’ individual success in the Palau South Pacific Mini Games this year,” he said.

The many-time men’s open champion of local tennis tournaments said his optimism stems from his confidence on the continued improvement of his Davis Cup players—Michael Leong of Solomon Islands, Juan Langton of Western Samoa, Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands, and West Nott of Marshall Islands.

“Both West and Mikey [Leong] will be regularly playing pro events. I hope Brett and Juan will too. It will be interesting to see who we draw later this month for our first tie in 2006, either Malaysia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon or Hong Kong,” he added.

Race said whatever country Pacific Oceania draws for next year’s Davis Cup is just fine with him since the team has the chemistry and experience to go toe to toe with any of them.

“We are familiar with most of the players on these teams and they are all good. I have set a goal for our guys to have one of them be the first from Pacific Oceania to get an ATP ranking this year or next,” said Race.

Under Race, Pacific Oceania has come all the way from Group III in 2004 to the second round of Group II this year. Under the Northern Mariana Islands Tennis Federation vice president, the team has also improved its International Tennis Federation to as high as No. 62.

In 2004, with Race still not relinquishing his playing team captain role and with then newcomer Leong fortifying a team that already included Langton and Baudinet, Pacific Oceania finished the Group III competition held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam with a 4-1 record.

The team’s victories included a 3-0 blasting of Syria, a 3-0 sweep of Bahrain, a 2-1 win over host Vietnam, and a nail-biting 2-1 triumph over Tajikistan. Its only loss came in the finals against Kazakhstan, which took two of three games against the islanders.

Last March, Pacific Oceania went up against seeded Lebanon in Lautoka, Fiji in its first Davis Cup Group II tie in years. Race this time stepped down as playing captain and recruited Cyril Jacobe of Vanuatu to solidify a rotation that already had Leong, Langton, and Baudinet.

With the Middle East powerhouse underestimating the team, the islanders raced to a 2-0 lead by sweeping the opening singles. Although, Lebanon took the doubles, Leong finished the job by winning the first of two reverse singles to allow Pacific Oceania to advance to the semis of Group II.

Race and company, however, ran smack into a runaway freight train when it opposed top seeded South Korea in hostile ground last July in Seoul. With ATP-ranked players leading the East Asian nation’s charge, Pacific Oceania was swept 5-0, this despite Race replacing Jacobe with former Georgia Tech tennis standout Nott.