Tennis: Nielsen again leads the tie

By Terry Maddaford

Mark Nielsen again has the responsibility of leading the New Zealand tennis team into battle in a Davis Cup tie.

But the 21-year-old Aucklander is far from overawed at the prospect of facing world No 18 and Spain's No 1 Felix Mantilla in that crucial first rubber at Mystery Creek this morning.

"In all my Davis Cup ties I have played the first singles," said Nielsen who has a two-win, one-loss record in playing first-up and a 5-1 record overall since coming into the national team in 1997. Among those five victories was the tie-clinching four-set win over Korea's Hyeong-Kuen Song in Christchurch in April.

"It suits me to go on first. It is much tougher if you have to wait around and then go on at 0-1," said Nielsen after he and his team-mates had been to the official Maori welcome and draw ceremony yesterday.

"I'm really looking forward to it. It is my third tie in New Zealand and I know we will all feel the expectation of the crowd."

Nielsen will be followed by Brett Steven in what could be his farewell after being in the national side 10 years.

Steven will play Spain No 2 Francisco Clavet - 32 on the latest ATP rankings - in what many pick as New Zealand's best chance of a singles win.

While Steven has said this will be his last outing and come Monday his mind will be more on playing golf than tennis, he had some tiny reservation, saying that if New Zealand won a place in the world group in 2000 he might reconsider.

"It is a big might," said 30-year-old Steven before heading off for nine holes at Hamilton's St Andrews Golf Club. "I'll just wait and see."

In a minor surprise, the Spaniards named Julian Alonso - their only player with previous Davis Cup experience having played in three ties - and Juan Balcells as the doubles combination to meet Steven and James Greenhalgh tomorrow afternoon.

Balcells, ranked 217 in the world, was named at the expense of Fernando Vicente. The inclusion of Balcells obviously caught local officials by surprise as he is not even mentioned in the match programme.

Greenhalgh happily accepts his "doubles only" role and with it the chance to stretch a six-match undefeated run with Steven since 1995.

"I love Davis Cup and especially playing with Brett. I have learnt a lot from him and we have built up a good combination," said Greenhalgh.

"While I haven't played against the Spaniards, I have seen them play so we have some idea of what to expect. I hope we get a big crowd behind us.

"We have nothing to lose," said Greenhalgh in expressing the sentiment of most associated with the tie. "But everyone will have to play their best tennis if we are to win."

Spanish legend and now non-playing captain Manolo Santana said he was confident of a good showing despite coming to New Zealand without big name players Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa and Alex Corretja.

"The players we have here are 100 per cent fit," said Santana who still talks with pride of the enjoyment he took from the 132 cup matches he played.

"New Zealand will have the crowd behind them. It promises to be a good match. The main thing is to compete. To lose is not the end of the world."

Try telling that to his players and the Spanish people.

Draw.-

Today: singles (11am) Mark Nielsen (NZ) v Felix Mantilla (Spain) followed by Brett Steven (NZ) v Francisco Clavet (Spain).

Tomorrow: doubles (1pm) tentative pairings, Steven/James Greenhalgh (NZ) v Julian Alonso/Juan Balcells (Spain).

Sunday: singles (1pm) Steven v Mantilla followed by Nielsen v Clavet.