Davis Cuppers relying
on big homecrowd support

THE warm weather and the home court crowd are two major factors the Philippine Davis Cup team is hoping will work to its favor when it battles Japan in their Asia-Ocenia Group I tie next month.

Playing in Group 1 of the event for the first time in a decade, the RP netters face the tough task of getting past the 22nd world-ranked Japanese in their bid to make it back to the World Group after a 16-year absence.

That’s partly the reason why they are banking on good playing conditions and the tremendous crowd support to boost their campaign come Feb. 8-10 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

"The weather right now is a little bit cold, but we know that around February the temperature may change," said RP Davis Cup coach Chris Cuarto, who appeared in the PSA Forum at the Shakey’s United Nations Avenue branch together with members of the team, playing captain Martin Misa and team manager Jean Henri Lhuillier.

"We don’t know where the Japanese are coming from, whether it’s Japan or Australia (playing in the Australian Open). But if they are coming from Japan, for sure maninibago sila dito dahil malamig ngayon doon," he added.

The Fil-Am duo of Cecil Mamiit and Eric Taino will again banner the country’s campaign. The last two regular slots will be contested by veterans Johnny Arcilla and PJ Tierro and rising netters Kyle Joshua Dandan and Pablo Olivarez II in a two-day tryout at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center this weekend.

Whoever makes the team, Lhuillier hopes the Filipinos will support the country’s Davis Cuppers the same way they did when the Philippines hosted the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

"I am calling on every Filipino to watch and support our Davis Cup team. We know it’s going to be tough, but with our collective efforts, everything is possible," added the tennis patron, who is also president of the Amateur Softball Association of the Philippines.

"Kumbaga sa basketball, 10 percent na agad `yung advantage natin dahil sa crowd support," Arcilla said.

The Japan Davis Cup team is composed of Go Soeda, ranked 212 in the world, Satoshi Iwabuchi, 19-year-old Yuichi Sugita and veteran Takao Suzuki, the Japanese who owns the most number of wins (35-19) in Japan’s Davis Cup stint.

The Japanese almost earned a berth in the World Group last year, but bungled a 2-1 lead to lose against Romania 2-3.

The Filipinos had been on a roll the past two years, having won their last eight ties to rise from as low as Group III. They blanked Kuwait 5-0 last year to finally reach Group 1 for the first time since 1997.

The winner of the RP-Japan showdown will face either Uzbekistan or India.