Former Pacific Oceania captain Jeff Race described as make-or-break the Islanders’ 2008 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group II relegation tie against Oman, which begins today in the Middle East country’s scorching capital, Muscat.
The CNMI National Tennis Team coach said a loss for Pacific Oceania would mean the Islanders would have to come down to Group III after years of successfully maintaining its spot in Group II.
He, however, said that although the stakes are high he is confident that the team would pull through because it has a better mix of veteran tennis players led by Michael Leong of Solomon Islands.
“From what I know and what I believe from the results I’ve seen, Pacific Oceania has a little better team than Oman. Oman just came up from Group III and they still don’t have the confidence in this level having won no ties in Group II,” Race said in a telephone interview last night with the Saipan Tribune.
But the many time CNMI national tennis player conceded that Oman’s home-court advantage could have a factor in the tie’s results and because of this he wouldn’t totally discount the possibility of the Middle East country upsetting the Islanders.
“For me, it’s 50-50 because Pacific Oceania has the better players but Oman has the home court advantage.”
Aside from Leong, Islanders captain Cyrille Mainguy has also tapped Juan Sebastian Langton of Samoa, his doubles partner Brett Baudinet of Cook Islands, and Cyril Jacobe of Vanuatu in the tie against Oman.
Leong has an 11-9 win-loss record entering the tie, while Langton has an even 18-18 mark, while Baudinet and Jacobe are 13-18 and 5-9 in Davis Cup play, respectively.
Khalid Al Nabhani, Mohammad Al Nabhani, and Sulaiman Al Rawai, meanwhile, will see action for the Oman side, which will be skippered by Majid Abdullah Mandhari.
Khalid Al Nabhani comes to the tie with a 48-38 win-loss record, while Mohammad Al Nabhani sports a 34-26 slate. Al Rawai, for his part, has lost all three of his Davis Cup matches.
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.
Last Monday, the Islanders held their first practice session at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat and Mainguy described conditions as “very hot with temperatures soaring into the 30s under a blazing sun and not dipping below 26 at night.”
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