The Philippines attempt to pull off couple of surprises when it clashes with World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and a heavily favored Greece Friday at the Philippine Columbian Association’s Plaza Dilao courts in Paco, Manila.
“We know they are tough especially with a world-class player like Stefanos Tsitsipas,” said Francis Casey Alcantara, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, who will spearhead the country’s campaign.
“But we will do our best to make the country proud,” he added.
Apart from Alcantara, the host nation is also composed of Jeson Petrombon, Ruben Gonzales, AJ Lim and Eric Olivarez, Jr. with Chris Cuarto as non-playing captain.
Tsitsipas missed his sixth title as professional after falling to Novak Djokovic in the finals of the Dubai Tennis Championship just a few days ago but should draw most of the attention because of his strong play.
His teammates are younger brother, Petros, Michael Pervolarakis and Markos Kalovelonis while Dimitris Chatzinikolaou as skipper.
The Filipinos will also try to rely on their home-court edge and use it to pull the rug from under Tsitsipas and the Greeks.
“Hopefully, the home court advantage will help us,” said Cuarto.
The team draw is set today.
The first two singles are scheduled on Friday, while the doubles and reverse singles are slated Saturday.