John Peers says re-joining the Australian camp for Davis Cup Finals in Madrid has given him a new lease of life at the end of a long season.
Speaking from a chilly Madrid as the Australians prepared for their first Group tie against Colombia, Peers told emageogroup.com there was a great feeling among the squad.
“The team chemistry is really good,” Peers said. “All the boys are gelling really well and we’re really looking forward to getting things under way here.
“It’s always good getting around these boys again. You sort of get a new lease of life and get ready to go and one last push for the year and we are all really looking forward to finishing off on a high. That’s our aim – to really finish strong and do Australia proud.
“We were keeping an eye on the Fed Cup Final and it was a great effort by the girls. They just pulled up short, which was unfortunate, but it’s always a great honour representing your country and to be able to do that again here is something really special.”
Belgium beat Colombia 2-1 in the Group’s opening tie overnight.
The Belgians claimed both singles victories but world No.1 doubles pairing Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah took out the doubles rubber for Colombia.
Peers is unsure who he might play doubles with yet, but has successfully teamed with Alex de Minaur this year against the Colombians.
“Each match is going to be tough and there’s not going to be an easy one,” Peers said. “We know they are going to be loud, vocal. “Let’s see if we can get the singles boys up and about early and then we’ll finish the job off.
“I know the Colombian boys pretty well, the doubles boys really well. They finished the year No.1 so that’s always going to be a tough match. I actually played with De Minaur earlier in the year and we knocked them off so feeling positive and confident that we can replicate that.”
There has been plenty of talk about the Davis Cup format change, including the fact it is now best of three sets, instead of five.
“It is a little different but we play that throughout the year so it’s just getting used to the group format and just getting used to this for Davis Cup style,” Peers said. “We know you don’t have as much time to figure things out so it’s going to be more about trying to make sure we start well and sort of keep things rolling and finish strong.”
The Australians take on Belgium early Thursday morning and will be hoping to progress to the quarterfinals.