Pacific Oceania kicks off Davis Cup training

Pacific Oceania wrapped up the first week of preparations in New Zealand for its Davis Cup tie against Lebanon.

Team captain Jeff Race said three of the four mainstays of the Davis Cup team, Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands, Juan Langton of Samoa, and Cyril Jacobe of Vanuatu, saw action in the Hamilton Futures Event held recently at the Waikato Tennis Center in Hamilton.

Pacific Oceania competed against world-class tennis players in the singles division and didn’t get past the second round.

Baudinet was the first to get the boot, falling to Martin Sayer of Hong Kong (1-6, 2-6), Jacobe also lost against Japan’s Masaki Harada (3-6, 3-6). Langton gave world junior No. 1 Sung-Yong Kim of South Korea a lot of fits in the first set before folding (5-7, 1-6).

Kim and his partner, Chu-Huan Yi, were in New Zealand fresh from their win in the junior doubles division of the 2005 Australian Open.

Langton was the only islander to win a match when he dismissed local bet Tristan Stayt (6-3, 6-1) in the first round. Baudinet and Jacobe got the luck of the draw, getting byes in the opening round.

Jacobe also saw action in doubles play, teaming up with Harada. The two got off to a great start, topping Bozidar Ivanovic of Chile and Matthias Neubert of Germany in the first round (6-1, 6-1).

Jacobe and Harada continued to play well and scored victory No. 2 when they humbled Nick Mulqueeny and Simon Gibbes of New Zealand (6-2, 6-2). Kim and Yi, however, stopped them dead in their tracks in the main draw (6-2, 6-2).

Langton and Baudinet also met the same fate in the main draw, losing to South Korea’s Kyu-Tae Im and Woong-Sun Jun (6-3, 6-1).

Next stop for the Pacific Oceania team is the North Harbour Futures Event in Auckland. The fourth member of the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team, Michael Leong of Solomon Islands, didn’t compete in the tournament.

Pacific Oceania will play seeded Lebanon in Lautoka, Fiji, in the first round of Asia/Oceania Group 2 Davis Cup from March 4 to 6.

Muka Godinet and Sanjeev Tikaram were also considered for the Pacific Oceania team but withdrew because of prior commitments.

If Pacific Oceania beats Lebanon they would have an away-tie with the winner of the match between South Korea (the No. 2 seed) and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, if Pacific Oceania losses, then the second round tie would be at home against the loser of the South Korea/Philippines match-up. The second round ties will be played from July 15 to 17.