Tennis: Davis Cup team warms up for Kazakhstan clash

The New Zealand Davis Cup tennis team are in full practice mode leading into the clash against Kazakhstan starting this Friday.

The Kiwi team had a hit-out yesterday at the venue for the match -- Tennis Park in Albany, on Auckland's North Shore -- although New Zealand No 1 Mark Nielsen was rested after a busy schedule of matches over the past two weeks in Futures tournaments.

Expected No 2, 18-year-old G D Jones, arrived from his University of Illinois base on Saturday and is keen to get onto the court for his debut match for New Zealand.

Other team members are Matt Prentice and Dan King-Turner.

New Zealand non-playing captain Bruce Derlin said the resting Nielson will be on the court from now on.

Jones was fit and healthy and had had some good results lately, Derlin said.

The New Zealanders will practice twice tomorrow and are expected to do the same on Thursday -- when the draw will be held at the North Shore City Council Chambers .

The Kazakhstan team are due to arrive in New Zealand this afternoon.

The first match of the tie starts at 2pm on Friday with the doubles on Saturday at 2pm followed by the reverse singles on Sunday at 11pm.

New Zealand's last Davis Cup outing in October last year ended with a 2-3 loss to Pakistan, relegating them to the second tier of the Asia-Oceania zone for the first time.

- NZPA