By Angelica Medina
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The Mexican Tennis Federation (FMT) said on Tuesday that next week’s Davis Cup tie against Taiwan is still on despite prominent players from the country refusing to play over differences with the governing body.
Mexico’s leading tennis players released a statement on Monday pointing to dissatisfaction with the FMT, due to issues including a lack of communication and planning.
Led by Santiago Gonzalez, Alejandro Hernandez and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, the players said they would not take part in the Feb. 4-5 Group I playoff tie in Metepec, State of Mexico.
The FMT, who named its team on Tuesday to face Taiwan, said five players who signed the statement – Alejandro Hernandez, Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela, Lucas Gomez, Gerardo Lopez and Manuel Sanchez – were not eligible to participate anyway due to their ranking.
“…these players have not been participating consistently in an ATP circuit, so they do not have a current ranking and their participation was not viable,” the FMT said.
Reyes-Varela and Lopez were both in the Mexico team that played Bosnia in September.
The Mexican team to play Taiwan includes 23-year-old Alan Rubio and 33-year-old Cesar Ramirez, 866 and 1220 in the ATP rankings respectively.
The other players on the team are Isaac Arevalo, Mario Alberto Duron, Luciano Alcocer and Armando Sotelo.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Toby Davis)
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