PH looking for any edge against favored Greece

Cheers from the home crowd. Familiarity with the venue. Whatever it is, the Philippines will milk every advantage it can when it battles heavily favored Greece in their Davis Cup tie that kicks off on Friday at Philippine Columbian Association’s Plaza Dilao courts in Paco, Manila.

“We know they are tough especially with a world-class player like Stefanos Tsitsipas,” said Francis Casey Alcantara, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist who will spearhead the country’s campaign.

Tsitsipas, the world No. 6 who is coming off a runner-up finish to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in Dubai recently, will be the main man for the Greeks.

“We will do our best to make the country proud,” said Alcantara, who will join a squad that includes Jeson Petrombon, Ruben Gonzales, AJ Lim and Eric Olivarez Jr. Chris Cuarto is the team’s nonplaying captain.

Tsitsipas will have younger brother, Petros, Michail Pervolarakis and Markos Kalovelonis as teammates with Dimitris Chatzinikolaou as skipper.

The Filipinos will have to dig deep in a bid to pull off a surprise against the visitors, according to Cuarto.

“Hopefully, the home-court advantage will help us,” Cuarto said.

The team draw will be held on Thursday.

The first two singles are scheduled on Friday while the doubles and reverse singles are slated on Saturday.