Philippines favored in Davis Cup tie vs Sri Lanka

Friday, 6 March 2015 00:27 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

While the Philippines is favored in the Asia Oceania Group II Davis Cup tie against Sri Lanka, PHILTA vice president Randy Villanueva, a former youth player says that “it should be an exciting tie and we can’t take the Sri Lankans for granted although we are a little bit favoured”. Villanueva recalls that in last year’s tie in Colombo which the Philippines won 3-1, PJ Tierro lost to HarshanaGodamanna, the 29 year old lefty while doubles specialist and team captain Treat Huey “won a close match against Godamann and was cramping up in the end.” He said the Valle Verde Country Club is a new venue with a shell court and it will be the first time a Davis Cup tie will be played there. Opening singles matches on Friday will begin at 4 p.m., which will be followed by a doubles match on Saturday and reverse singles on Sunday. Villanueva believes that there should be no pressure on the Philippines which leads Sri Lanka 8-0 in Davis Cup ties and instead should give the Filipinos “more confidence considering we won again last year.” He said Sri Lanka has a new player, 18 year old Sharmal Dissanayake who got his first ATP points in a tournament in Colombo recently and “we’ll be looking for him”.

Ex-Federer mentor handling Sri Lanka Cuppers vs PH aces

MANILA, Philippines: Sri Lanka has yet to beat the Philippines in all their previous Davis Cup encounters, but it is pulling all stops to score a breakthrough this weekend. The Sri Lankan squad brought along renowned coach Dominik Utzinger when it takes on the Cebuana Lhuillier-Philippine team starting this Friday at Valle Verde Country Club. Utzinger is a Swiss coach who has mentored, many superstars, among them Roger Federer during his formative years. He has been training the Sri Lankans for two months. “You can see that they are really serious about this, so we need to be on our toes all the time,” said Philippine Tennis Association vice president and PH Davis Cup administrator Randy Villanueva. Patrick John Tierro will be the No. 1 player for the host, but focus will be on Manila Mavericks stalwart Treat Huey. Huey will be seeing action for the first time before his hometown crowd since he took part in the Manila leg of the International Premier Tennis League last year teaming up with superstars Maria Sharapova, Andy Murray and Jo Wilfried Tsonga, among others. Organisers said they are hoping to cash in on the IPTL popularity and pack in the crowd at the venue. “The fans will surely get to see world-class tennis this weekend,” said Villanueva citing Huey who is a doubles quarterfinalist in the 2013 US Open and 2014 Australian Open. (Source: Sports Inquirer)