The Philippines will not be competing in this year’s Davis Cup competitions following the Philippine Tennis Association’s two-year ban from the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
At the tournament website, the country is listed as “withdrawn” from the Asia Oceania Group III competitions scheduled in Amman, Jordan from Wednesday, Sept. 15 until Saturday, Sept. 18.
The PH Davis Cup team would have been facing Hong Kong, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Pacific Oceania, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Syria and Vietnam in the three-pool round-robin stage.
The top three nations after the four-day affair will advance to the 2022 World Group II Play-offs.
The country has been competing in the Davis Cup since 1921 and has become an Eastern Zone champion in 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1964. The country reached the World Group playoffs in 1991, although has never appeared in the competition’s top tier.
The last time the country saw action in the Davis Cup was in March 2020 when it hosted the World Group II playoff tie against Greece at the Philippine Columbian Association clay court in Paco, Manila.
The Greeks, spearheaded by Grand Slam veteran Stefanos Tsitsipas, defeated the Filipinos, 4-1.
The PH team in that tie was composed of AJ Lim, Jeson Patrombon, Ruben Gonzales and Francis Casey Alcantara.
The ITF suspended Philta for two years on the basis of “long-standing governance failings” after snubbing deadlines given by the international body to submit reportorial requirements, which include plans for amending the constitution to increase memberships.