Omar Behroozian is feeling confident after the UAE secured passage to the promotion playoff thanks to a third victory in as many days in Davis Cup Group IV Asia/Oceania action in Bahrain.
The Emiratis maintained their perfect record, beating Oman 3-0 yesterday to top Pool B (Singapore are second but have a tie in hand).
Following a gruelling win the previous day against Bangladesh’s Sree-Amol Roy, Mahmoud Nader Al Balooshi comfortably beat Oman’s Younis Al Rawahi 6-0, 6-2.
Behroozian then trounced Fawaz Mandhry 6-1, 6-1 before UAE juniors Abdulla Ahli and Fares Janahi recovered from a second set blip in the double to down Omran Al Balushi and Ahmed Al Barwani 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to complete the sweep.
“The young players need to learn of course,” said Behroozian of the Davis Cup debutants.
“They took their foot off the pedal in the second set and it almost cost us. But that’s why they are here, to learn these things.”
The UAE are guaranteed a place in Saturday’s promotion playoff but will face Singapore today (Thursday) in a clash that will determine who will top the pool.
The winners of Pool B will take on the runners-up of Pool A and vice versa.
Behroozian, who is recovering from an oblique muscle injury, believes the UAE need to be tactical in today’s tie and conserve energy for the playoff, noting that most teams in Pool A are similar in level and it won’t matter who they end up facing.
“For sure Mahmoud and I gained confidence from those wins in the past few days.
“It’s not that crucial to finish top of the group because the teams in the other group are about the same standard.
“Of course we want to beat Singapore but definitely not at all costs. Saturday is the crucial match, not Thursday.”
