Davis Cup captain wary of threat posed by Philippines, Kuwait
Malaysia will face second seeds Pacific Oceania, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Qatar and unseeded favourites, the Philippines, at the National Tennis Centre (NTC).
Only the last two teams standing will earn promotion to Group III next year.
Malaysia is on a mission for redemption after being relegated from Group III last year. It was a crushing moment as Malaysia had never gone lower than Group III in the past.
Adam, who is a former national player himself, is aware that national pride is at stake but made it clear that returning to Group III will not be easy.
"At least five or six of the nations competing in Group IV this year have previously competed as high as Group II in recent seasons," said Adam when met yesterday (July 12).
"Group IV this year will definitely be very competitive. Worldwide, I believe tennis is getting tougher and tougher.
"When I last captained the Davis Cup squad (2018) in Group III, we played Kuwait in the promotional playoff and lost.
"Kuwait have had quality players in the past ranked as high as top-20 in the juniors and top-300 or 400 in the ATP rankings.
"(Besides Philippines) I believe they could also be a factor here this year."
The Philippines tennis federation was suspended by the ITF in late 2020 due to governance issues. The suspension was lifted in January last year which is why they are currently making their way back up from the lower divisions in both men's and women's tennis.
Koay Hao Sheng, Leroy Yong, Darrshan Kumar, Daniel Prickett, Naufal Kamaruzzaman and Devesh Sarawanan have been shortlisted for the Davis Cup squad. The final five-man squad will be announced on Tuesday (July 15).
Adam is pleased with the quality in the squad.
"As I have said before, Hao Sheng will be our key player and he will likely play in both singles and doubles," said Adam.
"As for the second singles slot it is still wide open. All of the other players are evenly balanced, which is a positive for us.
"As for a partner to play with Hao Sheng in the doubles, Leroy, Darrshan and Daniel are all capable of filling the slot.
"The doubles is important, even if we have won the first two singles matches, as it could be taken into account if it (group placing) goes to a countback. Hopefully it does not come to that.
"I will look to rotate the players as we will be playing for four to five days and we need to keep our players fresh."
The draw for the Group IV competition will be held on Tuesday. The nations will be split into two pools.
The top-two teams in each pool will advance to the promotional playoffs.
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