Bermuda progressed to the main draw of the ITF World Junior Tennis North American & Caribbean prequalifying event after defeating Bahamas 2-1 in the Dominican Republic on Tuesday.

Manuel Maldonado set Bermuda on the way to victory by winning his singles 6-0, 6-0 against Harrison Van Onselen in San Domingo. But Maldonado’s brother Raul did not enjoy the same success as he lost 6-1, 6-2 to Ethan Newbold.

However, the Maldonado brothers combined to win the doubles 6-1, 6-0 over Newbold and Julius Williams.

The win over Bahamas resulted in Bermuda finishing second in the three-team Group A behind top seeds Trinidad & Tobago, who beat Evan Heyliger’s side 3-0 on Monday.

Since that group had only three teams while other pools had four, Bermuda players got time to rest on Wednesday.

“We are now playing for positions one to eight, starting off with the No 1 seeds from another group on Thursday,” Heyliger said.

“We have tough matches for the rest of the week because we are moving to the higher bracket. The boys will learn some good lessons this week, that's one thing for sure.

“I’m still focused on getting some experience and improving our players at this higher level.”

Bermuda’s display in Dominican Republic follows the Junior Davis Cup. Steven Bean’s team endured a tough week in Guatemala, where they finished fourteenth of 16 teams, with their only win coming against Jamaica.

Last year, under Terry Smith, Bermuda finished seventh in the tournament in Dominican Republic.