Win allows NZ to dream of bigger opponents
A win over Venezuela in the Davis Cup isn’t that much of a victory in itself, but the reward it brings is considerable.
The Alistair Hunt-led team beat the South American country 3-1 in Auckland at the weekend, meaning they will play one of the nations that lost World Finals qualifying matches, also played this weekend.
Later this year New Zealand could be drawn against Belgium, Argentina, the Netherlands, Japan or Brazil, among other counties.
New Zealand tennis isn’t back in the big time, but it has taken another step towards getting there and Hunt hopes the team gets a glamour tie.
‘‘For New Zealand tennis it would be enormous,’’ Hunt said.
‘‘When you’re playing those big nations you learn so much, the environment they bring and the professionalism side of it.
‘‘If we can get young kids seeing that and then playing those guys and learning and hopefully sneak a win, that’s enormous.
‘‘The goal is to get a win, but if we can get some more kids playing tennis here, then it’s going to be a successful time.’’
The victory over Venezuela wasn’t as straightforward as expected. The three New Zealand victories were all tight, while Ajeet Rai suffered a loss to Luis David Martinez in three sets, after winning the first set and being up a break in the second.
But Hunt hopes Rai will get a lot from that match, while he was pleased to see Rubin Statham back on court after a year’s absence because of a hip operation.
‘‘A lot of us have been together for a long time, so we all know each other’s intricacies on how we behave on certain days,’’ Hunt said of the team.
‘‘We’ve all had a good week and it’s been good to get Rubin back in the team and have the old crew together. Hopefully Ajeet has learnt a fair bit this week and he’ll take that onto the tour going forward.
‘‘Venezuela fought really well and it was incredible for them to get here.’’
Statham’s appearance in the tie meant that he has played Davis Cup tennis for more years than any other New Zealander, playing his first tie against Kazakstan in 2005.
He has always been passionate about representing his country and admitted that while he was rusty after his long layoff.
‘‘I didn’t play my best tennis, being out for over a year,’’ Statham said.