King-Turner makes Davis Cup return

ROSS GIBLIN/The Dominion Post

CUP RUNNETH: New Zealand No 1 Dan King-Turner will be back in action at the Davis Cup.

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New Zealand No 1 Dan King-Turner will return to Davis Cup tennis action for the Asia-Oceania group two final against Thailand this month.

King-Turner, who was unavailable for the semifinal in July when New Zealand came from behind to beat Pakistan in Hawera, was today named in the squad to travel to Bangkok for the tie on September 17-19.

He is joined by Rubin Statham, Michael Venus and Matthew Simpson.

Since March, King-Turner, who has a current world ranking of 234th, has been playing Challenger events in Europe and Grand Slam qualifying events.

He arrived back in Auckland last weekend and has been training with Venus this week.

Venus, who made his Davis Cup debut against Pakistan, had a strong run in the Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Challenger circuit over the past month, lifting his ranking from 448th to a career-high 312th.

The Florida-based 22-year-old will play in a Futures tournament in Cairns before going on to Thailand.

Statham, who will also be at the Cairns event, had an impressive tie against Pakistan, winning both his singles in straight sets.

Europe-based Simpson has played one Davis Cup tie, against the Philippines in 2007.

Marcus Daniell and Austen Childs, who were also part of the 3-2 defeat of Pakistan, were both unavailable for the final, with Daniell injured and Childs having college commitments in the United States.

Thailand are due to name their team next Thursday.

New Zealand will have the stronger line-up on paper, but getting used to the heat is likely to a key element of the tie.

- NZPA