SANTIAGO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The first World Group match in the Davis Cup will pit Russia's Marat Safin, rated 24th in the world, against Chile's Nicholas Massu, Russia's team captain said on Tuesday.

    Shamil Tarpischev also said that Igor Andreev, 147th in the ATP rankings, will play fifth-ranked Fernando Gonzalez of Chile.

    Russia, the current Cup-holders, have chosen to keep Dimitry Tursunov, ranked 21st, in reserve because he is recovering from an injury. It leaves Safin the team's top ranked player.

    The Russians began training on Tuesday in the La Serena court, but Safin complained about the conditions of the ground, which he described very soft.

    "It is a bit soft because the court is pretty new. There are a lot of bad bounces. However, I hope it will be a bit better in three days. It has to be better to play good tennis, if not both teams will suffer," he said.

    Chile's Massu and Gonzalez joined Davis Cup captain Hans Gildemeister on Tuesday for first training session ahead of the Feb. 9-11 tie.