Cook Islands’ top tennis player Brett Baudinet is set to represent the country in his 19th Davis Cup competition which starts next week.

Brett Baudinet has been selected again in the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup team for the Asia/Oceania Group III Tie in the week commencing Monday, August 8 in Tay Ninh City, Vietnam.

Davis Cup is the World Cup of tennis and played annually.

Baudinet was selected based on his performance at the Pacific Mini Games in Northern Marianas in June this year.

“This will be my 19^th year and 60+ Davis Cup tie representing the Cook Islands on the world stage. I’m super excited as always as it is a true honour, absolutely amazing. To be doing this at such a competitive level for so long, I feel so blessed!” Baudinet said.

Earlier this year he played in the Davis Cup World Group II for the first time in over 10 years.

“It was extremely tough as we played the sixth seeds Estonia. We lost that tie and were relegated to Group II where we have mostly been the last 11 years. However, we have a good chance again this year to move back up to Group II for next year’s Davis Cup as we have a very strong team.”

The Pacific Oceania team also include Colin Sinclair (Northern Mariana Islands), Clement Mainguy (Vanuatu), Matthew Stubbings (Papua New Guinea), Gillian Osmont (Tahiti), captain Aymeric Mara (Vanuatu) and manager Cryrille Mainguy (Vanuatu).

There will be seven other teams competing: Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Vietnam. There will be two pools of four teams each competing in the round robin with positional play-offs. Three nations will advance to the World Group II play-off ties in 2023, with two nations being relegated to Group IV in 2023.

Baudinet said: “We are very confident, we have a strong team, and we are ranked in the top three and so we are aiming for the top three spots ... High expectations for us but we have to be confident going into the competition.”

“I have played in Vietnam three times before, the first time being the milestone moment the Pacific Oceania team first moved up to Group II ever. So it holds a spark for us that’s for sure.”

Baudinet hopes to inspire the upcoming junior players through his participation and performance.

“I’d like to shout out to our junior players, parents and coach, to encourage them to aim high, work hard, and hopefully reach some great milestones in their tennis careers and life experiences through this beautiful sport.”