Taiwan face China in a Davis Cup first round relegation play-off at the National University Sports Center in Taipei starting tomorrow. The winners will remain in the Asia/Oceania zone, group one, in the biggest team competition in men's tennis, with the losers facing a further relegation play-off in September.
Davis Cup ties are played over three days beginning with two singles matches on day one. These are followed by a doubles match on day two and two more singles games on day three. The nation that wins three "rubbers" wins the tie.
On paper, Taiwan should start as favorites. As well as having home advantage, a look at the rankings of the players in each team suggests that the hosts have the edge.
Top Taiwanese player Lu Yen-hsun is ranked just inside the world top 100 for singles, having reached the quarter-finals of the ATP tournament in Memphis, Tennessee, in February before losing to US star Andy Roddick.
He also has a good Davis Cup record, having won 14 singles and doubles matches and lost seven.
The next highest ranking Taiwanese, Wang Yu-tzoo, is ranked 184 but was ranked as high as 85 as recently as March last year. He also boasts an impressive record in Davis Cup ties with 18 victories and only eight defeats.
China's highest ranked player by contrast is Yu Xinyuan at 579 who has a 6-5 Davis Cup record.
The Chinese men's lack of success is in stark contrast to the fortunes of their female players with Li Na ranked inside the world top 20 in singles and Zi Yan and Zheng Jie ranked five and six respectively in the doubles rankings.
History is also in Taiwan's favor since the only other time the countries have met in a Davis Cup tie, Taiwan were the victors by three matches to two, in Wuhan, China, in 2003.
Both Lu and Wang played in that tie as did Zeng Shaoxuan and Sun Peng who are in the Chinese team this time round.
Lu defeated Sun in five sets with Wang earning a straight sets victory over Zeng. The two teamed up in the doubles to beat Zeng and Xu Ran 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-3.
The other two Taiwanese players nominated for the tie are Chen Ti and Yi Chu-huan with Li Zhe completing the Chinese quartet.
A Taiwan side missing Lu and Wang lost 3-2 at home to Thailand in their previous Davis Cup tie in February, while China were thrashed 4-1 at home by Japan.
Neither Taiwan nor China have ever played in the elite World Group made up of the 16 leading teams in the tournament. Taiwan were one victory away from a World Group playoff last year but lost a home tie to South Korea.
Asia/Oceania zone group one comprises the best teams in the region not in the World Group and currently includes the likes of India, Japan and South Korea as well as Taiwan and China.
Play is scheduled to start at 10am tomorrow and Sunday and at 1pm on Saturday.
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