Colombia, Chile unveil squads ahead of Davis Cup tie

Medellin (Colombia), April 6 (IANS) Colombia and Chile have officially unveiled their teams for the Davis Cup Americas Zone tennis tie here this weekend.

The captain of the host squad Pablo Gonzalez on Wednesday announced that Santiago Giraldo, Eduardo Struvay (ranked No.105 and No.470, respectively, in singles) and the doubles tandem of Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah will represent Colombia on the clay court, reports Efe.

Meanwhile, Chile captain Nicolas Massu confirmed that his team would comprise 192nd-ranked Christian Garin, 193rd-ranked Nicolas Jarry, Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera (No.380 in doubles) and Hans Podlipnik-Castillo (No.89 in doubles).

The order of play will be announced on Thursday.

Massu downplayed the absence of two injured Colombian players -- Alejandro Falla and Alejandro Gonzalez, both of whom have been ranked in the top 100 in singles in the past -- and noted that his team would be without the services of Gonzalo Lama, a former top-200 singles player.

"Both teams have players out, but we need to think about the players who are there and face the matches with them," he said.

The winner of the tie, which begins on Friday with the opening two singles matches and will run through Sunday, will compete in a World Group playoff clash in September for a possible berth in the 2018 Davis Cup World Group.