The 22-year-old Tierro was expected to play in the doubles but Tecson cited his past performances for the choice and the honor of playing the first match in the best-of-five rubbers starting today at the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) shell-clay center court.

"The decision to field in PJ (Tierro) was based on his past performance and during the past few weeks of training," Tecson, making his first appearance as the country’s non-playing captain after leading the nation to a World Group playoff in 1991, said during yesterday’s draw at the PCA.

"We felt that PJ is ready and has got what it takes to give us a first win," Tecson added.

Tierro, who narrowly lost his singles match against Japanese Go Soeda (1-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2, 4-6) last February at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in the zone quarterfinals, tangles with Uzbekistan No. 1 Dennis Istomin at 10 a.m.

"We’re all ready and I will do my best in this tie. We have learned our lessons against Japan and we are looking ahead," Tiero, who carries a 7-2 (win-loss) record in Davis Cup singles since 2004, said.

Fil-American Cecil Mamiit, whose nine-match winning streak was stopped by Japanese Takao Suzuki, also last February, meets Uzbekistan No. 2 Farukh Dustov in the second match today.

The pivotal doubles will be played tomorrow at 1 p.m. with Mamiit and Taino facing Istomin and Dustov.

The reverse singles, pitting Mamiit against Istomin and Tierro against Dustov will be played on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

"I believe every player here is ready and eager to play. We’re hoping for a better showing this time. What happened to us the last time around made the players from both teams looking forward for a better result," the 31-year-old Mamiit said.

Both the Philippines and Uzbekistan were sent to this first round playoff for the right to keep a Group I berth after absorbing losses from Japan and India, respectively, in the quarterfinals.

The Philippines was swept by Japan, 5-0, while Uzbekistan was nipped by India, 3-2.

"We are ready to play against your team. We prepared hard for this tie and look forward to get good results against a tough team like the Philippines," Uzbekistan non-playing captain Petr Lebed said through Dustov.

For his part, Tecson said that both teams have prepared for this tie and he expects very good matches.

"Of course the pressure is there. But what counts is how one handles the pressure. For me, I am very confident with my players," Tecson said.

The winner of this tie will keep its seat in Group I while the loser will go into the playoffs second round against the loser between Kazakhstan and Taiwan — the winner getting the last Group I slot and the loser being demoted to Group II next year.

The first and only time the Philippines played Uzbekistan, the team of Michael Misa, Joseph Lizardo, Robert Angelo and non-playing captain Virgilio Sison were blown out, 5-0, by the Uzbek duo of Oleg Ogorodov and Dmitri Tomashevich at the Dynamo Tenis Club hardcourt in Tashkent in 1997.

The nearest the Filipinos came to getting into the World Group was in 1991 when Tecson captained the team of Felix Barrientos, Roland So, Camoy Palahang and Danilo Pila to the top of Group I before losing to Sweden in the World Group playoffs, 0-5, on carpet at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The Philippines also emerged Eastern Zone champion in 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1964 but lost in the semifinals of Interzonal competitions on all four occasions.

The Uzbeks reached the World Group playoff four times from 1998 to 2001. Prior to 1992, players from Uzbekistan represented the Soviet Union in the competitions.