Bermuda's men's tennis team will fly out to Cuba this week with one aim in mind -- survival.

Davis Cup captain Steve Bean said success for his team would be to hold down their place in American Zone Group Three during next week's tournament in Havana.

And Bean felt he would be taking a stronger team to Cuba than the one which won promotion from Group Four by winning five out of six ties in Honduras last year.

Realistically, even avoiding relegation will be a tall order for Bermuda, who are undoubtedly the minnows among the eight nations taking part.

Hosts Cuba, Bolivia and Jamaica will provide the initial opposition in their round-robin group, with promotion and relegation play-offs to follow. Bermuda will play the first of five matches in five days a week on Wednesday.

An added challenge for Bean's men will be the experimental nature of the tournament, with short sets, no-ad scoring (next point wins after deuce) and balls six percent larger than standard.

"I have seen most of these countries play in past Davis Cups and they have always been very tough,'' said Bean, himself a former Davis Cup player who has masterminded two promotions in his four years as captain.

"Success for us is being able to survive in Division Three and we know it will be very hard.

"All of these teams will have one or two extremely good players playing top-level college tennis or satellite events -- and they are the players who can dominate.'' The last time Bermuda played in Group Three was in Bolivia in 1998, when they were relegated the year after winning promotion on home soil.

And though Bean is mindful of the arduous task ahead, he is satisfied that this year he has the unusual luxury of fielding his strongest possible team.

James Collieson, Ricky Mallory, Jenson Bascome and Donald Evans comprise the foursome who will carry the Island's hopes. The first three played in last year's team with Dean Mello. The return after a two-year absence of experienced Davis Cup campaigner Evans will give Bean extra options.

Each tie will be a best-of-three affair with two singles rubbers and one doubles.

"This is a strong team and I believe I have four players who can play singles,'' said Bean. "In the last couple of years, Dean Mello has been in the team and he was basically a doubles player.

"This time there are many different combinations possible. Jenson is a versatile player who filled in well for Ricky last year when Ricky got injured. Ricky and Jenson have played doubles together quite a bit.

"Both James and Donald are experienced singles players. Donald serves and volleys and that's the sort of play I like to see in doubles and James hits the ball so well, he could play doubles too.'' Collieson is likely to get the lion's share of singles assignments after a year in which he has played in a number of satellite and US Tennis Association events, as well as having enjoyed success with the University of North Carolina.

All the players in next's week's tournament could be forgiven for feeling like laboratory rats, given they will be asked to play a form of tennis rarely before seen at international level.

Matches will be played over the best of five `short sets', with first to four games, rather the conventional six, winning the set and tie-breakers at 4-4.

The larger balls which travel more slowly through the air and the no-ad scoring were both used last year in Honduras.

The lower echelons of Davis Cup are often used for such experiments by the world governing body of tennis, the International Tennis Federation.

Bean said the changes could effect play in a number of ways.

"It's going to be a strange tournament,'' said the captain. "If you go down love and love, you could have played eight games and be two sets down. It would be very difficult to come back from that.

Battle for survival From Page 27 "The no-ad scoring will also shorten the match. But the bigger balls will slow down the game and mean more rallying.

"There will be more pressure on players. The no-ad scoring means if you're 30-40 down you know you must win the next two points or lose the game. And if you get behind in a set, you have less time to come back.'' Bean said organisers had polled players on the bigger balls last year. "Their comments must have been favourable, I guess, because they're using them again this year,'' said Bean, who added he had occasionally seen the large balls burst in the middle of a point.

The Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association delegation, scheduled to arrive in Havana on Saturday, will include association president David Lambert, honorary life vice-president Alan Simmons and treasurer Sarah Cook.

Mallory has been training with Bean on the Island, while the other three players have been preparing in the US.

Bean said Washington-based Evans had been hitting with some of the many good players at his local tennis club, while both Bascome, who plays for Temple University, Philadelphia, and Collieson would compete in a major collegiate tournament in Hilton Head, North Carolina, this week.

Key man: James Collieson will be Bermuda's key singles player when the Island's Davis Cup team compete in Cuba next week.