Photo: Cyprus Tennis Federation
Davis Cup action gets underway on Friday as Finland hosts Cyprus for a third-round tie in Europe/Africa Group II. The winning nation at the end of the weekend gains promotion to Group I, just one level below the elite World Group.
Cyprus is represented by Marcos, Photos Kallias, Rares Cuzdriorean and Demetrios Leontis, while Finland lines up with Jarkko Nieminen, Henri Kontinen, Henri Laaksonen and Harri Heliovaara.
Playing at the Salohalli Centre in Salo, Finland, the home nation’s No. 1 player Nieminen will begin the tie as he takes on Kallias. In Friday’s second match, Kontinen will challenge Marcos. Marcos and Kallias will then team together in Saturday’s doubles rubber against Kontinen and Nieminen before the reverse singles on Sunday.
You can check out the weekend’s order of play here.
Friday’s play gets underway at 3:00 p.m. local time (GMT + 2 hrs). While Nieminen will be the favourite to give the hosts a 1-0 start, Marcos goes into the second rubber with a strong chance of handing the visitors a crucial point. The 19-year-old Kontinen is currently a career-high No. 620 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings and is playing in his fifth Davis-Cup tie – he has a 3-2 record in singles action.
Stay tuned to www.baghdatis.com for all the latest news on the tie.
Go Cyprus!
