Same faces for Pacific Oceania Davis Cup Team

The Pacific Oceania Davis Cup Team was named on Monday with non-playing captain Cyrille Mainguy bringing back this year the four players who competed in the 2008 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group 2.

The Solomon Islands’ Michael Leong, Samoa’s Juan Langton, Vanuatu’s Cyril Jacobe, and the Cook Islands’ Brett Baudinet are returning for duty for the Islanders, but this time they will be participating in Group 3.

After staying in Group 2 from 2005 to 2008, Pacific Oceania will play in Group 3 this year following the Islanders’ losses against Kuwait in the first round, 1-4, and Oman in the relegation tie, 2-3, last year.

The Asia/Oceania Group 3 competition will be held in Syria from April 15 to 19 on the hardcourt at the Al Hamadneih Tennis Complex in Aleppo, which is north of Syria and is one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world.

CNMI coach Jeff Race, who was Pacific Oceania’s non-playing captain from 2005 to 2007, said although the Islanders dropped to Group 3, competition in this level will still be tough.

“In Group 3, you have Iran, which has a history of fielding a strong team in every tournament. Also, Tajikistan is a pretty good team. I expect the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup Team to have a tough time in Group 3, but with good preparations and several tune-up tournaments, I believed they can pull it off and return to Group 2,” said Race in a telephone interview with Saipan Tribune.

Race is counting on Leong to carry most of the load for the Islanders.

“Last year, he played around 20 games in the pro circuit, so that’s a lot of experience for him. I am confident he will perform well this year, but he needs help from the three other guys to bring the team back to Group 2,” Race added.

Leong began his preparations for Davis Cup early this year by competing in New Zealand. He placed fifth in New Zealand and then qualified for the $15,000 ITF Pro Circuit event at Albany near Auckland.

The Pacific Oceania No. 1 player will join two more ITF Pro circuit events in New Zealand later this month before going to the U.S. and then Syria. A week before the Davis Cup tie, Jacobe will go to Brisbane to train with Langton.

Missing the team for the second straight year is West Nott, who is tied up with work in the U.S. The Marshall Islands netter is the assistant coach of the USC women’s team.

Next month’s Asia/Oceania Davis Cup Group 3 tie will also feature teams from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Syria. The eight nations will be divided into two pools and will play in a round robin first round. The top two teams in each group will then move into the semis and the top two nations at the end of the week will be promoted to Group 2 for 2010.