Leong, Langton to see action in opening singles

Michael Leong of Solomon Islands and Juan Sebastian Langton of Samoa opened Pacific Oceania’s 2008 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II relegation tie against Oman held late yesterday, Saipan time, at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat.

Pacific Oceania team captain Cyrille Mainguy also named a new combination made up of Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands and Cyril Jacobe of Vanuatu for the doubles match set for today.

The draw was made by June Baudinet, former president of Tennis Cook Islands, who arrived in Muscat yesterday morning to support the Islanders.

According to the Oceania Tennis Federation website, weather was hot with temperatures soaring into the 30s under a blazing sun during the morning yesterday. Play was set to start at 3pm, Muscat time, when the hottest part of the day is over and will continue into the evening under floodlights.

Islanders’ No. 1 Leong was expected to face Oman’s No. 2 Khalid Al Nabhani in the first singles match of the tie, while Pacific Oceania’s No. 2 Langton was to set to take on Oman’s No. 1 Mohammad Al Nabhani in the second singles match.

Baudinet and Jacobe, meanwhile, were scheduled to play the Al Nabhani brothers in the doubles match also set at 3pm, local time, in Muscat.

The reverse singles will then be played tomorrow and although Leong and Langton have been named, Mainguy still can change his singles players for the third day after looking at the results from the first two days. Pacific Oceania’s No. 1 and No. 2 singles players are expected to exchange Al Nabhani brothers in the final day of the tie beginning at 3pm in Muscat.

Asked about his wards’ chances in the tie, Mainguy said Leong faces a player with a big serve and someone who comes to the net regularly in the older Khalid.

“This match will be a contrast of styles with Leong looking for openings and looking to make passing shots when he can get onto his opponent’s serve,” he said in the Oceania Tennis website.

The second singles match, meanwhile, will see the smooth stroke-making of Langton pitted against Mohammed’s speed and big forehand—again a contrast of styles, according to Mainguy.

“In all, it will be a very close tie between two evenly matched teams,” he said when asked about the Islanders’ chances against Oman.

Oman’s third player is Sulaiman Al Rawai and the team is skippered by Majid Abdullah Mandhari.

In their only head-to-head match-up, Pacific Oceania beat Oman, 2-1, in Dubai in their Group A Round Robin Asia/Oceania Zone Group III tie way back in 1996.