Fil-Americans Treat Huey (left) and Cecil Mamiit (right) open the Philippines’ finals campaign against New Zealand in Thursday's Asia-Oceania Zone Gortup II Davis Cup competitions.

Fil-Americans Treat Huey and Cecil Mamiit open the Philippines’ finals campaign against New Zealand in the Asia-Oceania Zone Gortup II Davis Cup competitions on Thursday at the Philippine Columbian Association shell-clay courts.

Huey faces New Zealand No. 1 Daniel King-Turner at 10 a.m. after which Mamiit duels No. 2 Jose Stathamin in the second singles of the best-of-five matches tie.

The pairings were determined in yesterday’s draw which also had Johnny Arcilla and Elbert Anasta nominated to play in Friday’s doubles against King-Turner and GD Jones.

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday with Mamiit playing against King-Turner at 10 a.m. and Huey meeting Statham right after.

“I hope to get the team to start on a good note,” Huey said after the draw at the Century Park Hotel. “Honestly, I’m really hoping to play the first singles. I feel good and ready to play.”

Huey, who owns three wins and a singles loss in Davis Cup competitions this year, sees a tough match against King-Turner, who played in New Zealand’s 2007 team that lost to the Filipinos in Auckland, 1-4.

“I haven’t played against him (King-Turner) before, but I’ve already seen him compete and he’s really good. I’m not taking him lightly,” said Huey, who is coming off a doubles title win in an ATP Challenger in Sevilla, Spain last week.

The RP netters are billed as the underdogs in the tie on paper as the Kiwis are ranked much higher by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).

King-Turner and Statham, are ranked 343rd and 395th in singles, respectively compared to Mamiit and Huey’s No. 412 and 962 world rankings.

Still, New Zealand’s non-playing team captain, James Greenhalgh, refused to say that they are the favorites, adding that it is not going to be a quick and easy tie against the Filipinos after seeing how they improved over the years.

“At the end of the day, it’s about winning the matches and not about the rankings,” said Greenhalgh, a Davis Cupper himself. “I think we have an even chance of winning the tie because both sides have improved a lot in their game. We expect it to be difficult.”

The Kiwis arrived last Saturday after an eight-day training in Bangkok, Thailand where they tried to acclimatize to the tropical weather.

But the Kiwis admitted they still find it hot at the playing venue, and even requested for electric fans during the matches.

The New Zealand team was also surprised by the court conditions, which is actually clay with a mix of tiny crushed shells.

The winner of the RP-New Zealand team will be promoted to Group I next year.

The Filipinos beat Hong Kong (4-1) and Pakistan (3-2) while the Kiwis downed Malaysia and Indonesia with similar 5-0 scores in the first two ties of the zone.