Tennis: Quiet confidence among cup side

The rhetoric was low-key but there will be no mistaking the resolve when New Zealand step on court for the opening singles day in their Davis Cup tie against Kuwait at North Harbour today.

Victory over the Gulf state will move New Zealand one tie away from moving up to group one of the Asia Oceania zone. They are expected to do so against a team whose leading player, Mohammed al-Ghareeb, is world No 635.

Yesterday's draw at the North Shore council chambers put New Zealand's No 1 Mark Nielsen up against 18-year-old Abdullah Magdas in today's opening match, with GD Jones playing Ghareeb in the second rubber.

Nielsen and Canterbury's Dan King-Turner will play tomorrow's doubles against al-Ghareeb and Mohammed Siddiq, with the reverse singles on Sunday.

"There's good team harmony, everything's going well and everyone wants to play," non-playing captain Bruce Derlin said yesterday.

Nielsen was a certainty for No 1 spot, and the North Harbour player is in good touch, confident in his game.

"I feel like I'm playing well, my confidence is strong. In most of my tournaments in Asia I did well, and also I've been playing well for a long time."

He believes he's in better nick than for the Kazakhstan tie in March.

" I'm probably playing a little better and feeling a little better on court. The beginning of the year is always little tougher, as I haven't played so many matches, but by the middle of the year you often feel better."

Derlin plumped for American-based Jones for the second spot, giving him back-to-back appearances after playing Kazakhstan in the opening group tie at the same venue.

He said he gave some thought to the other squad members, King-Turner and Adam Thompson during the week before sticking with Jones.

Their practice sessions this week had some bearing on selection, but not that much, as Derlin pointed out: "If we were going by practice,. Mark wouldn't be playing".

"The tougher decision is on No 2, great. We need depth. All it takes is one of the guys to get injured and if we have no depth we're in trouble.

"We've got guys out playing fulltime, playing lot of tournaments and performing well.

"GD performed very well for Kazakhstan and there was no reason to change it."

None of the New Zealanders have played the Kuwaitis and the focus is on making sure their own games are in order rather than spend too long worrying about the visitors.

A rough guess, based on rankings and results, would have them the same calibre as Kazakhstan, who were beaten 4-1 in March - the loss coming in the reverse singles with the tie already decided, when Rubin Statham went down in his first Davis Cup match.

Jones is sure he's sharper now than then.

"Although that means nothing until you step on court in a match," he added. "But I feel my game has improved since then and hopefully I can show that."

As for the Kuwaitis, they are keen to take the opportunity of reinforcing their standing as the leading Gulf state at the sport, which ranks about fifth in popularity in the country.

They got together about a month ago - compared with four days for New Zealand's preparation - and are ambitious to make strides.

"I am confident about my game, but it will be tough," Ghareeb, a tall player reputedly with a strong serve, said yesterday.

Magdas, who started playing tennis at seven, is world No 29 junior, having risen to No 18 at one point. He's in his second Davis Cup tie, but his eyes are on the stars.

"Every tennis player wants to make the top 50," he said. "My dream is to make the top 20 in the world and you have to make sacrifices to get there. I'm looking forward to [the game] and hopefully we'll do well."