TORONTO (CP) - Canada will host Peru in the second round of Davis Cup men's international team tennis April 4-6 in Calgary's Stampede Corral.
Peru advanced to the second round on Sunday with a 3-0 win over the Bahamas in first round play. Canada, seeded second in the American Zone Group 1, received a bye into the second round and was awaiting Sunday's result to determine its first opponent of 2003.
"It's great to be able to play Peru at home," Canadian captain Grant Connell said in statement. "This is exactly when we have to take advantage of playing at home - if we were in Peru, we'd be playing on clay and would have had a much more difficult task ahead of us."
Canada swept Chile 5-0 in Calgary in April, 2002, to advance to qualifying for the world group of 16, but then was swept by Brazil in September to fall back to zone qualifying.
Canada and Peru have played one previous Davis Cup tie with the Canadians posting a 3-2 victory in Lima in 1987.
Luis Horna is the lone Peruvian player in the world's top 100. Ivan Miranda is No. 138.
In the new International Tennis Federation Davis Cup rankings, Canada is No. 22 while Peru is No. 36.
"They have one guy in the top 100 and one in the top 150, but both those guys are the most comfortable on clay," Canada's Daniel Nestor said.
"They're definitely tough opponents, but they might struggle on a fast surface, just like the Chileans did."