Wellington will host its first Davis Cup tie since 1995 when the Asia-Oceania zone decider between New Zealand and India is held at the Renouf Centre in April.
New Zealand Tennis chose the slow plexipave outdoor surface at the centre in an effort to negate the abilities of the Indians' trump
pairing of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi.
They are the current French Open doubles champions, have won Wimbledon, and last year were the fifth-best pairing in the world.
The second-round tie will be played on April 5 to 7.
New Zealand qualified with a 3-2 win over Indonesia in Invercargill on Sunday. India crushed Lebanon 5-0.
The winner of the April tie goes on to compete for a place in the world group in September.
Yesterday's decision was a shock as Wellington had not even put in a bid to host the tie.
But a $25,000 investment in resurfacing the three centre courts before Christmas paid an unexpected bonus for Wellington Tennis chief executive Kevin Wilson.
New Zealand's most experienced Davis Cup players, Mark Nielsen and Alistair Hunt, played in the Wellington Open last month. Hunt won the event and Wilson said they had found the new surface slow and ideal to take on the higher-ranked Indians.
NZ Tennis general manager Patrick O'Rourke said New Zealand, ranked 24th in the Davis Cup as opposed to India's 17, needed all the advantages they could get.
- NZPA
