Internet Desk: India will face New Zealand in the first round of the Asia/Oceania Group 1 Davis Cup for 2017 after a draw ceremony held by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Thursday.
The tie will be played in India from 3-5 February 2017 in the week straight after the Australian Open.
India are back in the Asia Oceania zone after being comprehensively beaten 5-0 by five-time champions Spain in the World Group play-off tie. India captain Anand Amritraj said he’s hoping that top singles players, who have missed the last two ties due to injuries, will be back in the team.
“It’s good for us that we are playing at home. Let’s hope that Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman get back to playing in the side. It’s still a few months away. I will discuss with AITA about the surface and venue soon,” Amritraj told PTI.
The last time the two nations played was in 2015 in the Asia/Oceania final in Christchurch where India won 3-2. The overall record between the sides is five wins to India and three to New Zealand.
Whoever wins then they would face either Uzbekistan away or Korea at home.
New Zealand captain Alistair Hunt reckon it will be tough for them to win against India in India. According to Hunt, “It’s a tough draw to face India in India as the conditions are very much in their favour and they have some good depth. The last time we played them went down to the wire in Christchurch last year. They hadn’t lost a doubles for a long time and we were ahead during the tie.”
“Our team is working well together and getting better all the time. We all really want to show how good we can be,” said the New Zealand captain.