The cold weather, the fast carpet court, and the hometown crowd will be the least of worries by the Philippine team this Saturday when it starts its campaign in the Asia-Oceania Zone Group I Davis Cup competitions against Japan.

“We just want to be really greedy with the points. We don’t want to give at least one point and we don’t want to show any weakness,” said RP’s top player Cecil Mamiit after Thursday's draw.

“It’s nice to play in the venue, it’s indoors. If we played outside, we could have a problem. There is nothing new to me since I have played in conditions like this, and Treat (Huey) lives in Virginia, which is also cold.

The No. 2 Huey opens the Filipinos’ bid when he tangles with Japanese No. 1 Tatsuma Ito at noon (11 a.m. in Manila) at the Namihaya Dome in Osaka, Japan. Mamiit then faces Go Soeda after the first match.

Non-playing captain Chris Cuarto initially nominated Johnny Arcilla and Francis Casey Alcantara to play the doubles against Takao Suzuki and Toshihide Matsui in the doubles tomorrow but a change in the line-up is expected depending on the results of the first two singles

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday with Mamiit and Huey exchanging opponents.

The 25-year-old Huey, ranked No. 698 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), will rely on his experience in international tournaments the past year including his silver medal stint in last December’s Laos Southeast Asian Games.

Mamiit, meanwhile, targets to extend his Davis Cup victories to eight since steering the Filipinos over Hong Kong, Pakistan and New Zealand in Group II last year.

“It’s going to be our second chance in Group I. We learned a lot from our experience in 2008. We’re more confident to win this time and hope that we can get an early edge against them,” Mamiit said.

The Filipinos lost to the Japanese, 0-5, in Manila in 2008.