Historic first win against Aussies on the cards in today's meeting in Dehli

Favourites China and Australia lined themselves up for an expected winner-takes-all showdown at the 2005 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I Zonal ties in Delhi after both nations topped their round robin pools as anticipated. China handed out 3-0 thrashings to Kazakhstan, Singapore and a Mirza-less India, with none of its players coming close to dropping a set thus far, while Australia managed to fend off Korea, New Zealand, and Chinese Taipei following the sensational withdrawal of their top three players earlier.

China is sending pair of Olympic Gold medallists and two of its three Top-100 players – Li Na and Zheng Jie – to battle the likes of (19)Australia, (32)Chinese Taipei, (36)India, (51)Kazakhstan, (34)Korea, (41)New Zealand, and (57)Singapore for the lone spot in the offing for July's World Group II Playoffs.*   The 2005 Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I round robin ties will begin Wednesday at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi, India, where some of Hong Kong's brightest juniors had just returned from their two-week endeavour at this year's ITF 14 & Under Asian Championships.

China has been drawn alongside India, Singapore, and Kazakhstan in Pool A, while Australia headlines a group of death featuring Korea, Chinese Taipei and New Zealand in Pool B – the nation to top either pool after the round robins will meet in an 'all-or-nothing' showdown for the coveted place in July's playoffs.

* Brackets denote Fed Cup rankings

Former world number one and 1998 French Open champion, Carlos Moya, missed out on Spain's first and only Davis Cup success back in 2000 with a back injury. But earlier on Sunday at the Estadio Olimpico in Seville, he was the hero in a picture-perfect scenario he confessed he had dreamt many times over in the middle of the night, as he beat America's top player, Andy Roddick, 6-2, 7-6(1), 7-6(5), to give Spain an unassailable 3-1 lead in the 2004 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group Final played before an estimated 27,000 partisan crowd draped in red and yellow, the largest ever gathered for a sanctioned tennis event.

[2005 World Group Draw]

At the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships held at the University of Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center, Hong Kong's Brian Hung and team mate Ryan Heller, went toe-to-toe with the No. 1 ranked NCAA men's doubles tandem, and the tournament's second seeds, Sam Warburg and KC Corkery, before the highly regarded pair from Stanford showed their mettle by coming up with key points late in the match to win their semifinal showdown, 8-6.

Although Brian and his team mate were denied the chance to play for a national title, it was nevertheless Michigan's first semifinal appearance in the men's tournament since 1979.

At the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, University of Michigan wildcard entry, sophomores Brian Hung and Ryan Heller, upset No. 3 seeds and defending champion Jason Zimmermann and Ludovic Walter of Duke in the opening round, 10-8, on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals. The following day on Friday, the Michigan pair saw off North Carolina's 32nd ranked tandem of Geoff Boyd and Brad Pomeroy, 8-2, to earn themselves a semifinal spot. They will face No. 2 seed Sam Warburg and KC Corkery of Stanford on Saturday morning (Eastern Standard Time) for a place in the finals.

According to Michigan's varsity website mgoblue.com, it was the school's first appearance in the men's doubles quarterfinals or beyond at the ITA National Indoors since 1979.

Qualifies for next month's ITA National Intercollegiate Indoors

Hong Kong Davis Cupper, Brian Hung, currently attending the University of Michigan on a tennis scholarship, went all the way to the final of the 2004 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships before falling to No. 2 seed and NCAA No. 95, Ryler DeHeart of Illinois, 6-3, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova will return to the place which kicked-started her ascend to SW19 earlier this summer, as she heads a stellar line-up for the 2005 Watsons Water Champions Challenge presented by the Hong Kong Tennis Patrons' Association, which will also feature four-time Grand Slam singles winner, Venus Williams; reigning US Open champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia; and Amelie Mauresmo of France, who reached the world No. 1 ranking earlier this year.

The Watsons Water Champions Challenge 2005 will once again take place prior to the season's first Grand Slam ? the Australian Open ? and will be staged at the Victoria Park Tennis Stadium from January 5th - 8th. The event will feature eight world-class female players competing in a Singles & Doubles competition. Details of the remaining four players in the field will be announced in due course. Tickets will go on sale in early December. For further information, please contact the Tournament Information Hotline on 2311 4000.

The 2004 Davis Cup World Group Semifinals & Playoffs returns to court this weekend with a string of exciting matches in prospect, with Andy Roddick's USA hosting Max Mirnyi's Belarus in Charleston, and France going up against home team Spain in Alicante in the semifinals. The USA has never faced Belarus before while Spain leads France in their Davis Cup head-to-heads, 4-1.

Other World Group playoffs this weekend features what promises to be highly enthralling match-ups, with both Japan and Thailand facing tough away ties against Chile and Russia, while Tim Henman and Tommy Haas will be hoping to lead their respective nations to victory against Austria and the Slovak Republic to preserve their World Group status. The remaining ties include Australia facing an under-strength Morocco, Croatia hosting Belgium, Paraguay hosting the Czech Republic, and Romania hosting Canada.