16 Jan 2016

Sport: Pacific countries push for Davis/Fed Cup options

11:23 am on 16 January 2016

The President of the Guam National Tennis Federation believes all Oceania countries should have the opportunity to compete in the Davis and Fed Cup competitions if they want to.

Torgun Smith, who is also an Oceania Tennis Vice President, is part of an International Tennis Federation taskforce that will spend the next two years exploring issues relevant to smaller tennis nations.

Guam and most of Oceania are recognised as 'Class C' countries, which don't get a vote in the ITF and are unable to enter teams in the Fed and Davis Cup.

The region does have special dispensation to compete together under the Pacific Oceania banner but Torgun Smith says Guam plans to submit their application for promotion to 'Class B' at the ITF's Annual General Meeting in Croatia in June.

"It's a three-year process: you have to make your intention then you have to make your application and then if your application is approved you're welcomed into Class B the third year so we're hoping to be a Class B nation in 2017. I hope to make that Guam's top of the pyramid where our players will strive to be on the Davis Cup team and 18-30 year olds will have something to play for annually, rather than every four years the Pacific Games or Micronesian Games."

Torgun Smith says a possible solution could be adding an extra group to the Davis and Fed Cup schedules, where Class C countries could play against each other in a bid for promotion.

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