Sri Lanka’s preparation for the Davis Cup 2009 is in jeopardy as her key player Harshana Godamanna is likely to quit the event due to his personal commitments. Without Godamanna, who spearheaded the country’s bid to enter Group - II in the Asia-Oceania Zone for the last four years, Sri Lanka is expected to suffer a possible demotion to the lowest Group-IV.

Godamanna, the only professional tennis player the country has produced in recent times, retired from the ATP tour following his first round exit after losing to world’s 931 ranked Juho Paukku of Finland last November in an ITF Futures tourney in Malaysia. On his retirement, Godamanna was ranked 856th.

"He (Godamanna) was the key for Sri Lanka for the last three, four years (in Davis Cup). Without him, we could have even struggled to remain in Group III," said Rohan de Silva, former Davis Cup player and Non-Plying Captain of Sri Lanka.

Godamanna carried the burden in Sri Lanka’s campaigns in the recent past as he played in both singles and doubles (partnering Rajeev Rajapakse) in each and every tie since the 2005 version of Davis Cup. He in fact single-handedly carried the island close to Group-II promotion in 2006 and 2007 when Sri Lanka got the third place marginally behind the second place winners.

"The SLTA is yet to begin systematic preparation for this year’s Davis Cup. No pool has been named yet. Last year’s player, Dinusha Wijesuriya too left for USA for his studies last week. If Godamanna is not playing, we might have to depend on a totally new set of players. But Davis Cup has become so tough that freshers would find it really hard," added de Silva.

The dates and the venue for this year’s Davis Cup Group-III are yet to be announced by the ITF though Sri Lanka will be featuring among seven tough teams in her Group, namely, Iran, Lebanon, Pacific Oceania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Syria. Davis Cup is usually scheduled between April and July each year.

In this four-Grouped Asia-Oceania Zone, a country needs to enter top two to get a qualification to the upper Group while the last two teams are annually relegated to the lower Group of the following year.

Over the last few years, Sri Lanka usually began early preparations for Davis Cup, the main annual international tennis event which is considered the men’s tennis world cup, but this year’s preparation has been severely hampered by the SLTA Interim Committee’s delay to appoint a national selection committee, lack of funds and poor coaching programme that is being conducted at the SLTA.

"A complete overhaul has to take place. If not, our tennis will be at its lowest ebb in future. This is one of the most difficult periods for Sri Lanka’s tennis," warned de Silva.