The experience of playing a ‘top class’ tennis nation like China is important enough for Ireland, but captain Conor Niland is also eyeing progress to World Cup I tennis when this weekend’s Davis Cup tie gets underway at the Sport Ireland Campus.

The two-day match at the Dublin 15 amphitheatre is already a sell-out, with Michael Agwi, Peter Buldorini, Conor Gannon, Ammar Elamin and David O’Hare representing Ireland. 

Bu Yunchaokete will be the star turn for the visitors. The 23-year-old made his debut in the main Wimbledon draw this year. 

“The Chinese guys, they’re top players,” non-playing captain Niland told RTÉ.

“74th in the world (Yunchaokete), just coming from the main draw of the US Open. Our number one, Michael Agwi, is 500th, but in the Davis Cup anything can happen and the rankings aren’t quite reflected in the performances.

“We were really competitive against Austria in the singles last year so I expect to be really competitive with the home support. Hopefully every seat is filled and people are noisy.”

Ireland were 5-0 play-off winners over Saudi Arabia in February and are now attempting to secure a World Cup 1 play-off spot for 2026.

The 13 winners of this weekend’s Group 11 ties compete in the World Cup Group 1 playoffs.

“It’s great to be back with a home tie, 2015 to 2024 we had nothing in Ireland,” non-playing captain Conor Niland told RTÉ Sport.

“It looks incredible with 2,000 people for the weekend, so we’re really excited.

“I think Group 1 for us as a nation right now would be a great place to be,” Niland continued.

“We’ve had two Group 1 play-off matches the last couple of years, Austria at home and Peru away, who are top-class nations.

“China are a top-class nation so it’s good that we’re playing these countries and getting this experience.”

The games start at 12 noon on Saturday and 11AM on Sunday and will be shown live on Premier Sports.