RP Davis Cuppers start from scratch

The long, hard climb to the top starts for the Philippines this week when it opens its campaign in Group III of the Asia-Oceania Zone Davis Cup competitions at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

The Filipinos, aching to regain their place in the elite Group I of the zone, will trade strokes with the netters from Bahrain, Sri Lanka and Singapore in Group A of the eight-nation, two-group event where the top two teams will be promoted to the zone’s Group II next year.

Composing Group B are Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Qatar. Hostilities in the round robin, best-of-three ties begin on Wednesday.

Leading the Filipinos’ campaign is world No. 1331 Adelo Abadia. Others on the team of non-playing captain Joseph Lizardo are RP No. 2 Johnny Arcilla, Rolando Ruel Jr. and Joseph Victorino.

"We will be starting practically from scratch. The team has been training hard for the past few months and our goal of reclaiming our former slot in Group I will be a long and tedious job," Buddy Andrada, Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) president said.

"The association’s long-term program is geared at achieving this goal along with the development of the juniors."

The top two teams after the round robin eliminations from each group will advance to the crossover semifinals with the two winners, who will engage in a final tie, going to Group II. The seventh and eighth placed teams will be demoted to Group IV.

Format of the matches calls for a best-of-five short sets which will have the first player to win four games winning the set provided that there is a margin of two games over the opponent.

The Philippines has a 5-0 record over Sri Lanka in past Davis Cup ties and a 1-0 slate against Singapore. The Filipinos have not met any other team among their opponents in this event.