The same PH players to face Kiwis in Davis Cup

The Philippines will be fielding the same lineup of Johnny Arcilla, Ruben Gonzales, Treat Conrad Huey and Francis “Casey” Alcantara when it faces New Zealand in the third and final round of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group II Tie from Sept. 13 to 15 at the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa in Lapu-Lapu City.

This was confirmed by Philippine Davis Cup administrator Randy Villanueva yesterday. The squad will once again be called the Cebuana Lhuillier Philippine Davis Cup Team.

The winner of this Tie will advance to Group I next year, which the Philippines has been wanting to do after it fell to Group II in 2011 when it lost to Chinese Taipei.

The Philippines advanced to the finals by beating Syria, 3-2, in the first round and Thailand, 4-1, in the second round.

Both tournaments were held at a shell-clay court was made especially for the Davis Cup by the Plantation Bay Resort and Spa and the Lapu-Lapu City government.

According to Villanueva, Plantation Bay’s shell-clay court has become the new favorite court of the Philippine Davis Cup. Before, it used to be the clay court of the Philippine Columbian Association in Manila.

“The team is on a roll here and the players have now become very familiar with the court,” Villanueva said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand was handed a finals ticket on a silver platter. This after the referee awarded the Kiwis the win in its second round Tie against Pakistan after the tournament was abandoned due to the dissatisfaction of game officials with the court in Myanmar. In their first round Tie, New Zealand blanked Lebanon, 5-0.

The Philippines leads New Zealand, 3-2, in their head-to-head but New Zealand routed the Philippines, 5-0, in their most recent meeting in 2011 in a hardcourt in New Zealand.

This will be the first time that the Philippines will be playing against a non-Asian country and the first Davis Cup finals since Plantation Bay and Lapu-Lapu hosted this international tennis competition.