Draw set for New Zealand v Uruguay Davis Cup tie in Las Vegas 

New Zealand number one Rubin Statham will play the opening singles rubber against Uruguay’s number two Ignacio Carou in this weekend’s Davis Cup World Group 1 playoff in Las Vegas. 

The draw has taken place this morning with the veteran Kiwi pitted against a player who is ranked 698 on the ATP rankings. The Uruguay team suffered a setback with their second ranked player Martin Cuevas (ranked 440) ruled out after testing positive for Covid 19. While Statham has slipped to 776 after a long injury layoff and limited match play. He has beaten top 100 ranked players and will fancy his chances of winning the vital first point for New Zealand. 

The second singles rubber on the opening day has Ajeet Rai against Uruguay’s number one, former world number 19 Pablo Cuevas who will be a strong favourite against the New Zealander. 

36-year-old Cuevas has slipped to a current ranking of 106 but the player who has beaten Rafael Nadal remains a classy act. 

Michael Venus (15) and Artem Sitak (123) will combine against Ariel Behar (41) and Carou in Sunday’s doubles rubber where the Kiwi combination will be warm favourites. 

The tie gets underway at 8am tomorrow morning NZT with the winner advancing to the World Group 1 qualifiers in September and the loser dropping to World Group 2.