THE Philippines hopes to make the most of whatever home advantage it has against a Greek side expected to bring heavy artillery in the Davis Cup World Group II playoffs set March 6 and 7 at the Philippine Columbian Association.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world No. 6 who won last week in France, now playing in Dubai and is scheduled to see action at Indian Wells early next month, is among those expected to suit up for Greece in the playoff in Manila.
The team also has Michail Pervolarakis, Markos Kalovelonis, Petros Tsitsipas and non-playing captain Dimitris Chatzinikolaou.
The Philippine squad, meanwhile, has Southeast Asian Games doubles gold medalist Jeson Patromobon and Francis Casey Alcantara, Eric Olivarez, Ruben Gonzales, Alberto Lim and non-playing captain Chris Cuarto.
The tennis team championship has a new format featuring qualifiers, World Group I playoffs, and the World Group II playoffs where Greece and Philippines are included.
Twenty four nations are in the three groups, with the 12 winners moving to the Davis Cup Finals in Madrid in November.
The losers in the qualifiers and the winners in the World Group I playoffs will play in the World Group I proper, while the losers in the World Group I and the winners in the World Group II will play in the World Group II proper.
Losers in the World Group II playoff will drop to Group III.