Ireland face into tough Davis Cup tie in Minsk

Ireland face Belarus in Minsk in the first round of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas Group II tie this weekend. The nations have met just once before, also at this stage of the competition, in 1999 with Belarus prevailing in Dublin, on a 4-1 margin.

The draw for the clash took place in City Hall in Minsk earlier today. Daniel Glancy is first on court for Ireland when he faces the number two Belarusian player Dzmitry Zermont (WR 314) at 1.0pm local time (10.0, Irish time).

Playing in his first ever Davis Cup tie, Dublin's John Morrissey follows that match tomorrow afternoon against Egor Gerasimov (WR 252).

The 23 year old David O'Hare who replaces the injured Sam Barry in the team, plays his first ever Davis Cup rubber with James Cluskey (WR 152) in the doubles on Saturday afternoon when they face the experienced duo of Alexander Bury & Max Mirnyi (WR Doubles 26).

O’Hare is currently on scholarship at the University of Memphis and is part of the third-ranked doubles pair in all of collegiate tennis in the US. The reverse singles takes place Sunday.

Should Ireland win the tie, they will face either Egypt or Moldova in the quarter-finals in Ireland from April, 4th-6th 2014.