Pacific Oceania drops in Davis Cup rankings

Pacific Oceania’s International Tennis Federation Davis Cup Nations Rankings slipped a spot following its loss to powerhouse South Korea in the semifinals of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II last July.

In the current Davis Cup rankings posted on the official website of the Davis Cup, www.daviscup.com, Pacific Oceania is ranked No. 63 with 133.8 points in the 140-nation list.

South Korea swept the islanders 5-0 in their three-day encounter at Seoul’s mammoth Olympic Tennis Court from July 15-17.

Pacific Oceania gave South Korea its best shot in the opening day singles with No. 1 seed Michael Leong of Solomon Islands taking Sun-Yong Kim to the limit before losing 6-0, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, while newcomer West Nott of Marshall Islands succumbed to Woong-Sun Jun, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1.

The next day, South Korea clinched the tie when its doubles team of Oh-Hee Kwon and Jun subdued the islanders’ veteran duo of Juan Langton of Western Samoa and Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4.

In the final day of competition, South Korea reasserted its dominance over Pacific Oceania finishing the tie on a high note by winning both reverse singles.

Jae-Sung An gave Leong only his third loss in Davis Cup competition, 6-4, 6-3, while Langton bowed out in the same score against Kim.

Despite the loss to South Korea, Pacific Oceania still maintained its place in Group II of the Davis Cup. Gap-Taik Roh served a captain for the victorious South Korean team, while Jeff Race of the CNMI was the skipper of Pacific Oceania.

South Korea’s win against Pacific Oceania allowed the country, dubbed as the Land of the Morning Calm, to advance to the finals of Group II where it will play New Zealand for the right to move on to Group I competition of the Davis Cup.

The Kiwis advanced following a 3-2 nipping of Middle East powerhouse Kuwait at the More FM Tennis Park in Aukland, New Zealand. The two topnotchers of Group II will square off on Sept. 23-25 in New Zealand.

South Korea is currently ranked 41st in the ITF Davis Cup rankings with 585 points, up from No. 43 just before its tie against Pacific Oceania. New Zealand, meanwhile, is only three rungs down at No. 44 with 400 points, up from No. 46 prior to its tie against Kuwait.

In a related story, Spain retained its No. 1 position on the latest ITF Davis Cup Nations Rankings ahead of 2003 champion Australia, which remained at No. 2.

The four quarterfinal winning teams from the last Davis Cup weekend—Russia, Argentina, Croatia, and Slovak Republic—have all risen in the ITF Davis Cup rankings. Russia rose from 4th to 3rd, Argentina from 6th to 5th, Croatia from 9th to 7th, and Slovak Republic from 12th to 8th.

Last March, Pacific Oceania moved 15 spots in the ITF Davis Cup rankings from No. 77 to No. 62 immediately following its 3-2 upset of seeded Lebanon at the Dr. Robin Mitchell Regional Tennis Centre in Lautoka, Fiji.