John Peers: 'It’s always a great honor to play Davis Cup'
The storm that had gathered over the Australian men's tennis in the previous week has slowed down as it seems, with both Bernard Tomic and Lleyton Hewitt deciding to end their verbal feud and focus on their jobs in and out the court. The Davis Cup captain has gathered the team that will play against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Davis Cup Qualifiers next week in Adelaide, leaving out Tomic, injured Kokkinakis and Kyrgios, giving a chance to Alex de Minaur, John Millman, Jordan Thompson and John Peers.
At the moment, de Minaur and Peers are locked up to play for Australia on Friday and Saturday but the doubles specialist can't focus on those duties at the moment, reaching the final of the men's doubles at the Australian Open together with Henri Kontinen, seeking their second title in Melbourne in the last three years. The 29-year-old Melbourne native will kick off his fourth consecutive Davis Cup season, making a debut against the USA in 2016 when he and Hewitt lost to Bryan brothers in five sets.
In the previous campaign, John lost both Davis Cup doubles rubbers against Germany and Austria but he is confident that he and his teammates will celebrate a win on Saturday, standing as the favorites against Bosnia in front of the home fans. Peers is one of the players who stand firmly behind Hewitt and his decisions, saying the team spirit is on a high note and how he can't wait to start the action, just as the other members from the green and yellow squad.
“It will be interesting to see the workload of the guys making the switch from five sets to three sets," Peers said. “It will be the first time we’ve seen it at the top level of Davis Cup so it will be interesting to see how the guys handle that one, whether it changes their mindset if they play all three rubbers. It could be a longer day on Saturday or it could be a quicker day, we’ll see. But it’ll make for a very interesting day one as always. Friday could be a little bit quicker than it has been in the past, but I know the guys will be ready to go and it will be a very intense tie.
It’s always a great honor to play Davis Cup. I’ll put my hand up every chance I get. I’ll continue to try and put myself in a position to be able to do that. Growing up, watching what the guys did in Davis Cup was amazing, and seeing them win it a few times was incredible. Any time you get to represent your country in Davis Cup or Olympics is always amazing. From what I’ve experienced with Lleyton, he’s been a great leader of the team. He’s done great things in the ties we’ve had. He leads from the front and he’s always setting the example in terms of what all of us guys need to do. What he’s done for Australian tennis is unbelievable. His record speaks for itself so to be able to play under a captain like that is always fun and always exciting.”
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2FMI9dr
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