BRISBANE, Australia(AP) Tennis Australia said it will appeal an International Tennis Federation decision to leave its next Davis Cup match in the southern Indian city of Chennai, despite ongoing security concerns by the Australians.
We will be lodging an official appeal on Monday,'' Tennis Australia spokesman Darren Pearce told The Associated Press on Sunday.It will be under the same grounds - our concerns for the security of our team.''
The third-round Australia-India match in Asia-Oceania Group 1 is scheduled to take place in Chennai on May 8-10. The winner will advance to the World Group playoffs in September.
In a statement released on the Davis Cup Web site Friday, the ITF said Chennai was approved by the Davis Cup Committee following ``a positive report from the ITF's security consultants.''
Australian tennis officials had sought a change of venue amid heightened concerns about security for sports events on the Indian subcontinent, following a terror attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Lahore, Pakistan, last month.
In late March, Tennis Australia asked for the match to be moved.
We have received advice from a variety of sources referring to traveling to India,'' Tennis Australia chief executive Steve Wood said in a statement at that time.It is on that basis of security concerns that we have asked for the tie to be moved out of India.
The All India Tennis Association said in a statement at the same time that it was confident of the match being held in Chennai.
There's no need to shift it,'' the statement said.The International Tennis Federation wrote to us about Australia's security concerns and we've sent a reply.''