The reining champion of the McDaniel Cup, Pedro Nolasco, who has been a ball boy at the Casa de Campo La Terraza tennis club for more than 12 years, was recently ranked as the #4 tennis player in the Dominican Republic and selected to represent his country in the in the Davis Cup, a premier international team event in men’s tennis, run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
The the 1st round of the Americas Group 2 Division of the Davis Cup was played from the 10th to the 12th of February in Santo Domingo’s Parque L’Este with the Dominican Republic beating Bolivia 4 – 1. The Dominican team will now go on to round 2 of the Americas Group 2 Division of the Davis Cup, which will be played in Venezuela, against Venezuela from the 6th to 8th of April 2012.
Unfortunately Casa de Campo’s ball boy, Pedro Nolasco did not compete in the 1st round of the competition, due to a wrist injury sustained in training. For the 2 weeks before the competition Pedro joined his team mates, Victor Estrella, the Dominican Republic’s #1 player, ranked #160 in the world, Johnson Garcia and Bebo Fernandez for intensive pre-competition training, during which time the players trained for upwards of 6 hours a day – a schedule young Pedro was simply not used to. However, despite this disappointment for Pedro, Pedro remains part of the Dominican team and will be heading out to Venezuela, where he hopes to claim glory in this internationally renowned competition! Good luck Pedro!
The 3rd round of the Americas Group 2 Division of the Davis Cup and the final, which we hope will involve the Dominican Republic (and our Pedro Nolasco), will be played from the 14th to the 16th of September 2012.
For now, Pedro is back at the La Terraza Tennis Club in Casa de Campo, La Romana, where continues to train and prepare himself, as well as working as a ball boy and tennis professional. If you are interested in having lessons with Pedro – ask at the Tennis Pro shop.
About Pedro Nolasco
Pedro started working and training at the La Terraza Tennis Club in Casa de Campo when he was just 8 years old and from an early age showed great potential. Destined to become a successful athlete, Pedro’s late father, Pedro Julio Nolasco won the first Olympic medal for the Dominican Republic in the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when he won the bronze medal in the men’s bantamweight category. Today, Pedro Julio Nolasco is remembered in La Romana as a sporting pioneer and even has a boxing stadium named after him; the “Estadio Pedro Julio Nolasco,” and there is no doubt that Pedro (jr.) certainly takes after his father! Now the #4 tennis player in the Dominican Republic, Pedro Nolasco who is 20 years old and has finished school is hoping to get a scholarship for a university in the United States, where he will be able to improve and develop his tennis.
Pedro would like to also thank his mother, who works at La Casita in the Marina Casa de Campo, for all her love and support.
About the Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. Competitors for the Davis Cup are divided into 4 groups; the “World Group” and Groups 1, 2 and 3. The top group, the “World Group” consists of the World’s 16 best national teams, and it is the competitors in this group that compete for the Davis Cup. All the other countries, who are not part of the “World Group” are divided into regions; the Americas, Asia/Oceania and Europe/Africa and compete in groups 1, 2 and 3. Nations progress up the groups after winning their group, for instance for the Dominican Republic to be in group 2 (which where it currently is), it first had to win group 3, and if the Dominican Republic is successful this year and wins the Americas Group 2 division, the country will then progress to Group 1 next year and if successful in Group 1 it will become part of the “World Group” and thus able to compete for the Davis Cup. Source:wikipedia.org and daviscup.org
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