The UAE Davis Cup team are braced for a tough clash with Turkmenistan in Tehran on Saturday as they fight to remain in the Asia/Oceania Group III next season.
Led by UAE No1 Omar Behroozian, the Emirati team finished the round robin stage with a 2-1 defeat to Lebanon to place third in Pool B and book a survival playoff against Turkmenistan, who finished fourth in Pool A.
The UAE had lost to hosts Iran in their opening tie before bouncing back with a tight 2-1 win over Singapore, but their defeat to Lebanon meant they couldn’t play for a chance to get promoted to Group II and will have to beat Turkmenistan to avoid relegation to Group IV.
Behroozian, who was rested against Lebanon yesterday, and 23-year-old lefty Hamad Janahi will be representing the UAE on court.
"We played Turkmenistan in 2012 and we beat them but they are a young team and they are improving every year," Behroozian told Sport360. "I beat their No1 before three times but they were all on hard courts and he’s a good clay-courter so tomorrow will definitely be tough for both me and Hamad.
“We need to be more than 100 per cent to have any chance to win. But we’re motivated and we really want to stay in Group III.”
Against Lebanon yesterday, the talented Bassam Beidas beat UAE’s Mahmoud Nader Alblooshi 7-5, 6-3 before Kamil Khalil beat Janahi 6-3, 6-2, on the clay courts of the Enghelab Sport Complex in Tehran.
The Emiratis were handed a walkover in the doubles match which was a dead rubber.
The UAE had spent their preparation period in France leading up to Davis Cup to get the chance to practise on clay – a surface not generally available here in the Gulf.
But Behroozian explained they were unlucky with the weather as rain made conditions quite different to what they ended up playing in, in Iran.
"The conditions in Iran are very very tough because of the altitude. We were very unlucky with all the rain during our training camp in France, which made the clay very slow and bounces were very low," said Behroozian.
"In Iran, the altitude is making the ball fly more and the bounces are much higher. We would have been better off training in Dubai on hard courts.
"So we had to readjust and I think we underperformed, even in our win over Singapore.
"I think we are more adjusted to the conditions now though and hopefully we’ll do our best against Turkmenistan tomorrow."
Iran went undefeated in the group stage to top Pool B and they face Syria for a shot at promotion while Lebanon take on Malaysia, also seeking a spot in next year’s Davis Cup Group II.
