Christchurch Confirmed for Big Davis Cup Tennis Clash   24 Apr 2015

Christchurch Confirmed for Big Davis Cup Tennis Clash

Christchurch has been confirmed as the venue for the important New Zealand versus India Davis Cup tie in July.

The Asia/Oceania Group One final has a reward for the winner of taking part in the World Group playoffs against potential opponents such as the United States, Switzerland or Germany later in the year.

The tie against India will be held indoors at The Z Energy Wilding Park Tennis Centre, Christchurch 17-19 July and is the same venue where the home team beat Chinese Taipei in October.

It will be a busy weekend in Christchurch with the All Blacks against Argentina Four Nations test on the Friday night. Tennis New Zealand are aiming to start the opening singles of the Davis Cup a little earlier than usual to accommodate fans of both sports.

Tennis NZ CEO Steve Johns believes it’s an ideal opportunity for tennis and the city of Christchurch to showcase itself.

“The importance of this Davis Cup tie is huge. Over 120 countries in a 115 year old competition take part in Davis Cup and TNZ are pleased to bring this tie to Christchurch again on what is going to be a busy weekend. TNZ is keen to work in with fans who also want to attend the rugby test in the city as well. They can see two high quality sporting events in the one city in the one weekend.”

Tickets for the tie will go on sale on midway through next month.

New Zealand’s top players have been putting in good performances since their victory over China in March with a number of Challenger doubles titles and top performances in ATP and Futures events.

Artem Sitak has a ranking of 49 in the world in doubles while Michael Venus is 59 followed by Marcus Daniell at 85.

In singles Rubin Statham is ranked 391 and was recently a finalist and then a winner at Futures tournaments in Australia, on each occasion beating higher ranked players to make the finals. Venus is ranked 509 in singles.

“It will be great to play in Christchurch again. We had a good win over Chinese Taipei in the same venue last year and the court is really great to play on with the crowd so close to the action. India are strong especially with Leander Paes who is a tennis legend, but all of the Kiwi team have been playing well and taking part in ATP events with success. It’s going to be a great contest against them,” says Sitak whose thoughts are echoed by New Zealand team captain Alistair Hunt.

“This tie is huge for New Zealand and India, fighting for World Group playoffs is something big for the Kiwi guys who are all playing well and perhaps it’s not recognized by the New Zealand public just how much they have improved over the past couple of years and are really made an impact on the world scene.

It will be great to play in Christchurch and I know there will be a vocal crowd keen to support the team again,” says Christchurch-based Davis Cup team captain Alistair Hunt.

On three occasions India has made the final of Davis Cup. They currently build their team around veteran and tennis legend Leander Paes who has won eight Grand Slam doubles titles and been a finalist on eight occasions. Paes also has 55 ATP doubles titles to his credit, one of them being the Heineken Open doubles crown in Auckland in January.

The highest ranked Indian players are former top 100 player Somdev Devverman at 168 in singles, Yuki Bhambri at 218 and Ramanathan Ramkumar ranked 226. In doubles former world No1 Paes has a current ranking of 23 with Rohan Bopana 24.

India lead New Zealand 4-3 overall in head-to-head Davis Cup clashes.

The New Zealand versus India Asia/Oceania Group One Round Two Finals tie will be held at the Z Energy Wilding Park Tennis Centre, Christchurch 17-19 July 2015. It is expected that a large number of tennis fans from around the country will head to Christchurch for the contest.

ENDS

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