Gavin Manders will be the sole member of Bermuda's victorious 2009 Davis Cup team when the Island moves up a division and takes on the likes of Aruba, Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and hosts Puerto Rico this July in the Americas Zone Group III.

Manders had a superb year in 2009 which culminated in him winning Male Athlete of the Year.

He will lead Bermuda's team of David Thomas, Naim Azhar and rising star Neil Towlson in Puerto Rico, starting on July 7.

Bermuda's Davis Cup team captain, Steve Bean, said yesterday: "We have a young team this year but three of the players are playing at are college."

Those players are Manders, Thomas and Azhar.

While Manders is currently on a two-week training camp in Florida, Thomas and Azhar have both been back in Bermuda for a week training.

Bean said after watching the two: "They have improved their game over the last year – I am very encouraged. Naim looks very good in practice as does David."

Towlson is at the Chris Evert Tennis Academy in Florida. "He will not be back until the end of May and he has been doing well so far," said Bean.

Azhar also used to be at a tennis academy in Florida.

"Naim played a lot of his tennis at the Bill Evans Tennis Academy for a number of years. In fact, he hardly played in any of our junior tournaments here – he played mostly overseas," said Bean.

Also training in Bermuda this week with Thomas and Azhar has been Jenson Bascome.

Bean said of the challenge facing Bermuda: "We have been up to Group III on two other occasions. We have had some competitive sets before but we haven't been able to beat anyone in Group III – it is going to be tough."

David Lambert, president of the Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association, said yesterday: "Gavin is the only member of last year's Davis Cup team which got promoted to Group III – but he does have a strong support team. They are not any pushovers.

"We are back up to Group III but it is going to be tough – but we have earned it."

Last year in El Salvador only Aruba managed to beat the Bermuda team who put to the sword Trinidad and Tobago, US Virgin Island and Panama to finish second in Group IV.

The dates for the Davis Cup in Puerto Rico this year are from July 7-11.

The matches will be played at Parque Central de San Juan and the surface will be hard courts.

The format will be round-robin – eight nations in two pools from July 7-9.

The top two nations in each pool contest 'promotion' in a round-robin pool from July 10-11. Previous results against nations in this pool are counted. The top two countries will be promoted to Americas Zone Group II.

The bottom two nations in each pool contest a 'relegation' round-robin pool from July 10-11. Again the previous results against nations in this pool are counted. The bottom two nations will be relegated to Americas Zone Group IV.

Manders ended 2009 with an undefeated record in all tournaments in singles.

But more importantly the 23-year-old also helped Bermuda to advance in the Davis Cup to Group III. He has a Davis Cup record of 6-1 – an unprecedented overall record for a Bermuda player.

In accepting his award at the Male Athlete of the Year, Manders paid tribute to his coaches, Steve Bean and Sam Maybury, as well as hailing his father, and former top cricketer, Arnold Manders as his inspiration.