By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
The Philippine Davis Cup team is not going to cower in fear despite facing a daunting task in toppling a giant in Greece in their World Group II playoffs on Friday at the Philippine Columbian Association in Paco, Manila.
“It’s going to be tough, but we can promise we’ll do our best. Our goal all the time is to win it,” said the 20-year-old AJ Lim, who has been playing for the squad since 2017.
“More than that, we’re excited. Especially to have someone like Stefanos (Tsitsipas) competing against us,” said Francis Casey Alcantara, one of the veterans.
Ranked No. 6 in the world, Tsitsipas has been making waves since last year, having beaten the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
But the Filipinos are hoping that having a home court advantage will help them turn the tide.
With his style – not to mention being handsome – Tsitsipas will also attract Filipino fans to cheer for them.
The 21-year-old Tsitsipas is coming off a runner-up finish to Djokovic at the Dubai Tennis Championships last Saturday, as well as a title win at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, France two weeks back.
The PH and Greek teams held their second training session on Wednesday with the Filipinos coming in first.
Ask about his observation while watching Stefanos hit the ball with brother Petros, Lim could only say: “Lakas!”
Aside from Lim and Alcantara, the PH team is composed of Ruben Gonzales, Jeson Patrombon and Eric Olivarez Jr. Chris Cuarto is their team captain.
The Greeks, for their part, has the Tsitsipas brothers, Michail Pervolarakis, Markos Kalovelonis and team captain Dimitris Chatzinikolaou.
Team draw will be held Thursday with the first two singles set on Friday. Doubles and reverse two singles will be on Saturday.