Manders hails Regional Pickleball & Historic Davis Cup tie
IslandStats.com
Bermuda tennis stalwart Gavin Manders believes the explosive rise of pickleball across the Caribbean is reshaping racquet sports in the region, speaking fresh off a successful competitive campaign in Jamaica while looking ahead to this weekend’s landmark Davis Cup clash on home soil.
Manders, Bermuda’s all-time Davis Cup rubber wins leader and a central architect in developing local racquet disciplines, recently returned from Kingston, where pickleball continues to experience exponential growth.
While paddle sports continue to flourish regionally, Manders’s immediate attention is also fixed on the traditional court, where Bermuda is preparing to host powerhouse Mexico in a historic Davis Cup World Group II tie at the W.E.R. Joell Tennis Stadium—marking the first home tie staged on the island in nearly three decades.
Having anchored Bermuda's Davis Cup side for over a decade in regional group ties abroad, Manders underscored the profound significance of competing on home hard courts in front of a partisan local crowd.
Play in the Davis Cup World Group II tie gets under way this weekend in Pembroke, as Bermuda aim to turn home-court advantage into a historic upset against Mexico.
