Tennis: Pressure on NZ in Davis Cup battle

With a chance for promotion into the Asia-Oceania region's top group on the line, New Zealand is under pressure to perform well in this weekend's Davis Cup tennis tie against the Philippines in Manila.

Having completed a 5-0 clean sweep of Indonesia in July's group two semifinal, New Zealand play the Filipinos for a spot in Asia-Oceania's top tier.

New Zealand's line-up of Dan King-Turner, ranked 343 in the world, Rubin Statham (395), GD Jones (845) and Oliver Statham (895) is stronger than that of the Philippines, but the team will likely be tested by the difficult climate and compressed clay surface.

Former tennis great Onny Parun said the conditions New Zealand faced in Manila would make for a tough competition.

"I wouldn't have thought that our teams would be as good on clay as they would have been on a solid surface like we've got in New Zealand," Parun said.

"You can get there and do practice for it, but if it's clay then you've got to slide. It's a different story, it's a different style of play."

Parun said the weather could also cause problems for the New Zealanders as they battled against the high humidity.

The Philippines side is headed by American-born Cecil Mamiit, who is ranked 410 in the world, but was as high as 72 in 1999.

He is joined by Treat Conrad Huey, ranked at 1008, and Jonny Arcilla and Vincente Elberto Anasta, both unranked.

Mamiit acknowledged New Zealand's advantage in rankings and experience.

But he said the crowd support and familiarity of the courts would prop his side up.

- NZPA