The Philippines plays the David against the Goliaths in World No. 6 Stefanos Tsitsipas and the Greeks in their Davis Cup World Group II playoff tie at the Philippine Columbian Association’s Plaza Dilao courts in Paco, Manila.
AJ Lim, 20, drew Tsitsipas at 10 a.m. while Jeson Patrombon clashes with the younger Tsitsipas in Petros.
Lim is the underdog against Tsitsipas, who is riding the crest of a runner-up finish to Novak Djokovic in Dubai less than a week ago.
But Lim can draw strength from the fact that he once defeated Tsitsipas in a doubles tournament in their junior days.
But that was eons ago as the 21-year-old Tsitsipas had won four titles since turning pro to zoom to the top 10 in the world.
“It was in the past and very long time ago,” said Lim. “I will just give it my best when we play tomorrow (today).
For Tsitsipas, he will not take LiM lightly.
“We’ll just take it match by match,” said Tsitsipas, who at 6’4” towers above the 5’7” Lim.
Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales will team up as they tackle Petros Tsitsipas and Markos Kalovelonis in the doubles tomorrow.
And then the reverse singles pitting Lim and Patrombon against the Tsitsipas follow after.
This will be the first time that the Filipinos clash with a non-Asian country since the Felix Barrientos-led squad battled the Swedes in World Group Qualifiers 29 years ago.
This is because the Davis Cup organizers are implementing a new format that allow 12 simultaneous home-and-away ties in Group II as well as in Group I.
The Group II winners will then compete in the World Group II ties in September along with the losing nations from World Group I.
The losers of World Group II, meanwhile, will be relegated to the Regional Group III in June/July or September.
