Tennis: Real Mark of respect

There was a time Mark Nielsen was the nipper in New Zealand's Davis Cup team.

Now, at the ripe old age of 27, he's the senior statesman in a youthful, inexperienced quartet who will aim to start New Zealand's rise out of the basement of the Asia-Oceania zone when they play Kazakhstan at North Harbour in their group two tie starting today.

Nielsen, who made his Davis Cup debut in 1997 against Indonesia, is not exactly reaching for his zimmer frame, despite his assertion yesterday that "my body tells me I'm getting older".

He will play No 1 and kicks the tie off against Kazakhstan's No 2 player, Dmitri Makayev, with some good form behind him and plenty of confidence in his ability to do the job. In the other opening day singles, GD Jones makes his Davis Cup debut against Kazak No 1, and world No 425, Alexey Kedriouk.

World No 543 Nielsen has had good results in the Futures tournaments in recent weeks.

"I'm very happy with the way I'm playing," he said. "I'm hitting the ball good, I've played a lot of matches which is great for the confidence and self-belief when things get tight out there."

Nielsen also knows he has to adopt a senior advisory role, alongside non-playing captain Bruce Derlin, given that his teammates, Jones, doubles partner Matt Prentice and Rubin Statham are 18, 24 and 17 respectively.

What he wants is to get a more settled look to the New Zealand squad as it looks to get back, firstly, into group one of the Asia-Oceania zone, then look at tougher challenges from there.

"Over the last couple of years my team-mates have been changing pretty quickly. I've got two new ones here [Jones and Statham].

"What I'd like to see over the next year or so is have four guys who are basically in the team every time. The guys who have the ability, and show the commitment to the team and to playing Davis Cup."

That dig at some of the crop of young up-and-comers in New Zealand whose desire has been under the spotlight was as subtle as a brick. Indeed, there was a late change to the squad this week, when Canterbury's Dan King-Turner withdrew citing "personal reasons".

Aucklander Jones is certainly up for the challenge today. He is learning his trade at the University of Illinois. He's had a string of good results in recent weeks, most notably when his university played last year's NCAA champions, Baylor University of Texas, a fortnight ago.

Jones cleaned out NCAA singles champion of last year Benjamin Becker, 6-4 7-6 (7-4).

"I've had a really good season so far. I'm feeling pretty good about my preparation," said Jones.

As for playing second, not first, no problem.

"I'm just excited to be playing," he added.

Derlin expects New Zealand to win. "We're confident, everybody is very positive. We're ready to play," he said.

No one quite knows what to expect from Kazakhstan, who arrived in Auckland yesterday after being held up in Dubai an extra 24 hours en route. They are tired but hope to do well. They'll need plenty of pluck and a lot of luck.

The odds are that New Zealand will win and advance to host either Iran or Kuwait in the second round in July.

Who, when, where

Davis Cup, Asia Oceania zone, group two

At North Harbour Tennis Park, Oteha Valley Road.

Opening singles today, Mark Nielsen (NZ) v Dmitri Makayev (Kazakhstan), GD Jones (NZ) v Alexey Kedriouk (Kazakhstan), from 2pm

Doubles tomorrow, Nielsen and Matt Prentice v Kedriouk and Makayev, from 2pm.

Reverse singles on Sunday, Nielsen v Kedriouk followed by Jones v Makayev, from 11am