Nott, Leong see action in opening singles

West Nott and Michael Leong will open Pacific Oceania’s Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II second round tie against Malaysia today at the headquarters of Ligue Caledonienne de tennis in Noumea, New Caledonia.

Nott, of Marshall Islands, will be first on court and will face the Southeast Asian nation’s top player Yew-Ming Si beginning at 3pm today local time.

The first match of the opening day singles will be a contrast of styles, according to the Oceania Tennis Federation website, as the 1.8-meter Malaysian is a serve and volley player, while the much smaller Nottt will attempt to blunt Si’s power with his counterpunching style.

Leong, of Solomon Islands, will be up next as he goes up against Malaysia’s most experienced Davis Cup player, Selvam Veerasingam. The 20-year-old Leong is expected try to wear down his 36-year-old opponent with long rallies, angles, and drop shots.

The islanders’ most experience doubles pair of Brett Baudinet, of Cook Islands, and Juan Langton, of Western Samoa, has been named for the doubles competition tomorrow.

They will oppose Malaysia’s two singles players Si and Veerasingam. Doubles pairs can be changed up to one hour before play commences tomorrow at 2pm local time.

Team captain Jeff Race of the CNMI said the hot weather the past few days is expected to continue on Friday with a blazing sun and 32 degrees likely at the 3pm start time.

He, however, is confident that with home ground advantage, Pacific Oceania is looking to put in a good performance and retain their place in Group II for 2007.

The two other players suiting up for Malaysia are Razvan Rawi and Shi-Hao “Jonathan” Yip. Serving as team captain is Muliyadi Bin Jamal.

Coming into the tie, Pacific Oceania is ranked 65th in the latest ATP Davis Cup rankings, while Malaysia is 15 rungs down at No. 80. Both teams are coming off losses in their 2006 openers with the islanders getting trounced by powerhouse Hong Kong 1-4, and Malaysia losing to Indonesia, 0-5.

Pacific Oceania sports a 23-26 win-loss record since joining the Davis Cup in 1995, while Malaysia has a 29-51 mark and played its first Davis Cup in 1957.

Malaysia had the edge in head-to-head encounter though, as the Southeast Asian nation has won the past four ties against the islanders. It defeated Pacific Oceania, 3-0, in Malaysia in 2003; 3-0 again in 1999 in Bangladesh; 2-1 in 1997 in Qatar; and 2-1 in 1996 in the United Arab Emirates.