03 May 2004	Monday	12 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

LAHORE, May 2: Pakistan Tennis Federation chief, Dilawar Abbas has said that the decision of choosing clay court for the Davis Cup Group-II tie against New Zealand scheduled to be held at Islamabad in September, has been taken after considering the poor past record of visitors at such type of courts.

Talking to reporters on Sunday, he said that the team from Down Under did not have an impressive record at clay and the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) decided to exploit their weakness.

When informed that Pakistani players were also weak at clay and the federation had lost the home's court advantage of grass, Dilawer claimed that his boys had good control and they were able to deliver.

Pakistani players are formidable on grass courts and they had earned many success here. The experts had criticised the PTF decision while Pakistan tennis prodigy Aisamul Haq Qureshi had refused to play on a claycourt.

But the PTF boss said that Aisam refused because the player considered he was losing out while playing in Davis Cup because he was earning much more by playing abroad. "Yes, we can't pay Aisam what he demands and he has also refused to play the tie," he said.

He said that the PTF was laying more emphasis on youngsters instead of seniors. " We have sent Aisam to ITF Future and upcoming Shahzad Khan has played in Davis Cup tie against Japan," he said.

He said that ITF had awarded four Futures tournament to Pakistan which will be held this year and that would provide enough opportunity to the youngsters. Dilawer said despite financial constraints PTF was trying to complete its complex at Islamabad. Four more clay courts would be laid there in next three months.