Stefanos Tsitsipas on Davis Cup: We Are Acting as a union. We know each other well

World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas will lead the Greece team as they take on the Philippines in the Davis Cup World Group II playoffs tie in Manila this weekend.

Speaking to The Manila Bulletin, Tsitsipas says he enjoys playing in the Davis Cup as the team is a close-knit union.

Tsitsipas, who reached the final of the ATP Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last weekend, commented, “The chemistry is unbelievable. Playing with my brother and my father, as well as with my teammates (Michail Pervolarakis and Markos Kalovelonis) gives me like a closer bond to them. We’re acting as a union. We know each other well.”

The 21 year old's father Apostolos is also accompanying the Davis Cup team to Manila and says, "Davis Cup is a special event. It’s involving the country, it’s very traditional with tennis people coming along and achieving together one goal. So it’s like a family."

Team captain Dimitris Chatzinikolaou also spoke about the benefits of having a close knit team. "We believe that this young team has great future and potential. This team will not change. We are friends, we are a great company and that is very important. It’s a step by step [process]. First, we have to achieve this (tie) first, then we’ll discuss"

The Philippines team is composed of AJ Lim, Francis Casey Alcantara, Ruben Gonzales, Jeson Patrombon and Eric Olivarez Jr. with Chris Cuarto being the team captain.

20-year-old AJ Lim, who has been playing for the squad since 2017, commented, "It’s going to be tough, but we can promise we’ll do our best. Our goal all the time is to win it."

Francis Casey Alcantara commented, "More than that, we’re excited. Especially to have someone like Stefanos (Tsitsipas) competing against us."

This will be the first meeting between the two countries and the winning team will advance to Group II in September. The draw for the tie will be announced on Thursday.

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2wvVTFQ