The captain of the Pacific Oceania Davis Cup tennis team says his side is playing for its survival at the group three tie starting on Tuesday in Dubai.
Eight teams are taking part in the tie with the top two promoted to group two and the bottom two relegated to group four.
The Pacific Oceania team consists of four players from Tahiti, Fiji, Cook Islands and Guam.
The captain, Cyrille Mainguy, says relegation would spell the end for the region's senior Davis Cup team as its funding would likely be diverted to junior tennis.
"It is sad to say and that will be exactly what I'll be telling my players, let's not make history as the first team that will be dumped first of all and the first objective like I said is to remain in that group and I'm pretty sure we've got the capacity for it, I'm pretty confident for that and on the day let's make it to the top two and move back up in group two."
Cyrille Mainguy says Pacific Oceania should be one of the stronger teams at the Davis Cup tie as it was relegated from group two last year after three years in the higher division.
