Phl Cuppers seek repeat vs Sri Lankans

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippine Davis Cup team is upbeat of its chances against a Sri Lanka side it has beaten in eight Davis Cup ties but remains wary of the visiting squad when they open their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 2 tie on Friday at the Valle Verde Country Club in Pasig.

For one, Sri Lanka will be backstopped by a new player in Sharmal Dissanayake, who won ATP points in Sri Lanka this year and who will join regulars Harsahana Godamanna, Dineshkantan Thangarajah and Sankha Atukarale in the team handled by non-playing captain Rohan Silva.

The 19-year-old Dissanayake didn’t see action when the Philippines scored a 3-1 rout in Colombo last year before the Filipinos bowed to Pakistan in the semifinals and missed a crack at going back to Group I.

But head coach Karl Santamaria is confident of scoring a repeat over Sri Lanka, saying the team is finally going back to elite Group 1 next year “but we are taking it one tie at a time.”

To boost their chances, the Cebuana Lhuillier-backed squad is calling in the support of the hometown crowd with Santamaria also expressing hope to bank on the interest generated by the successful International Premier Tennis League which kicked off its maiden leg here in Manila last November.

Grand Slam veteran Treat Huey, who played for the Manila Mavericks along with superstars Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, will be seeing action for the first time for Team Phl since the IPTL.

“I talked to Treat and he said that of all the four legs if the IPTL, the Manila leg was the most successful,” said Santamaria. “So we hope it generated that much interest for tennis and people show up. One of our supposed advantage is the hometown crowd.”

The drawing of lots will be held tomorrow at 10 a.m., also at Valle Verde which is hosting the Davis Cup for the first time. Opening singles matches on Friday will begin at 4 p.m. with opening ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Doubles match on March 7 and reverse singles on March 8 will begin at 3 p.m.

Joining Huey in the team, backed by Yonex, Pasig City and the Philippine Sports Commission, are Pepperdine University standout Francis Alcantara, local ace PJ Tierro, and Ruben Gonzales who just won an ATP Challenger singles title last week in Mexico. Roland Kraut will serve as non-playing captain.

Tickets are priced at P1,000 for a three-day pass, and P500 for a day pass. New Zealand’s David Smith will be the head ITF referee.