ANTALYA, April 6, 2017

Marsel Ilhan and Christian Lindell will start the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group II second round tie between Turkey and Sweden at the Ali Bey Hotels & Resorts in Antalya.

The World No. 284 from Turkey will face Lindell for the first time in the opening rubber on Friday. Ilhan is enjoying the home advantage, having competed in the ITF Pro Circuit event in Antalya the week before. He fell in the quarterfinals to Latvian Martins Podzus in straight sets. Lindell finished runner-up at the ITF Futures in Sunrise in January and spent the last two weeks on the ATP Challenger Tour in South America.

In the second match on Friday, Sweden’s number one Elias Ymer will take on Cem Ilkel for the first time. The ATP NextGen star from Stockholm will play his first match on clay this season. After the Australian Open, Ymer played the hard court swing in North America. Ilkel, currently ranked on a career high World No. 302, competed for four consecutives weeks at the ITF Futures events in Antalya. He made it to the final two weeks ago, but lost to German Marvin Netuschil in three sets.

In Saturday’s doubles rubber, Altuk Celibilek and Anil Yüksel will face Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom.

The reverse singles rubbers pits Marsel Ilhan against Elias Ymer in the fourth rubber on Sunday as well as Cem Ilkel against Christian Lindell.

Photo Gallery (by Brigitte Urban):