Davis Cup | We’ve good chance to beat India on our grass court, says PTF Salim Saifullah
Pakistan Tennis Federation president Salim Saifullah has stated that they have a very good chance of beating India on their grass court and the AITA was intentionally using tactics to shift the venue. PTF has filed an appeal to the International Tennis Federation after the tie was being shifted.
The tie, which was scheduled to take place on September 14-15, has already been delayed by two months and a date is yet to be fixed. While ITF was adamant on hosting the tie in Pakistan, the All India Tennis Association has repeatedly requested for a change in venue amidst the political tensions.
And PTF has stated that the Indian players are intimidated by Pakistan’s strength on their grass court and has used Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) ongoing sit-in in Islamabad as an excuse.
“They highlighted to the ITF about JUI-F leadership’s aggressive attitude. We have a very good chance of beating India on our grass courts and the Indians know this that is why they are using all tactics to delay and shift the tie,” said Saifullah, reported PTI.
With the ITF now finally looking to host the tie at a neutral venue after much protest, Pakistan have now filed an appeal challenging the decision to shift the Davis Cup tie. Citing proof that their venue was well-equipped to host the clash, PTF is now expecting a positive response by November 15.
“We have pointed out that we are fully prepared to host India for the Davis Cup tie as there is no security issue and nor should political ties between the two countries over-ride our chance of hosting a major event,” Saifullah said.
The event-free opening of the Kartarpur corridor on Saturday has further given steam to Pakistan’s cause and Saifullah used the same to defend Islamabad. “I think our case is very strong because there is no viable argument for shifting the tie to a neutral venue,” he added.
The Pakistan Sports Complex has previously hosted Davis Cup matches when Pakistan have played against Uzbekistan, Korea, and Thailand in 2017 and 2018. And now with it unlikely to host the tie against Pakistan, PTF said it had some other options as well.
“We may tell the ITF that we’ll not nominate the neutral venue. We’ll request it to ask AITA to choose where its outfit wants to play,” he added.
