SOZOPOL, Bulgaria ----- Auburn Montgomery senior men's tennis standout Birkir Gunnarsson is currently competing for his home country of Iceland in the 2017 Davis Cup.
 
Gunnarsson and his Icelandic teammates are in Group III of the tournament, and are competing at the Holiday Village Santa Marina in Sozopol, Bulgaria. The Davis Cup will be held from April 5-8.
 
The format for Group III is a round robin and consists of four groups. The groups consist of three pools with four teams and a single pool with three teams. Iceland is paired in Pool B with Moldova, Malta and Macedonia, F.Y.R.
 
"It's always a great honor for me to play for my country, especially as a captain now for the third time," Gunnarsson said. "We used to play in a Europe/Africa group zone, but they changed the format a while ago so we only play European teams, which are usually stronger. There are a lot of strong teams showing up this year with quality players. It will be a tough challenge, but I'm looking forward to it."
 
Gunnarsson, who is making his eighth Davis Cup appearance, sports a 6-14 record in singles play and a 3-7 record in doubles play during his career. In his only singles match of the 2017 Davis Cup, he rallied from a first-set defeat to upend Andrei Soltoianu from Moldova, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, in a 2-1 Iceland victory. Team Iceland will conclude round-robin play with matches against Malta and Macedonia today.
 
Joining Gunnarsson on Team Iceland is Egil Sigurdsson, Vladimir Ristic and Rafn Kumar Bonifacius. Gunnarsson will serve as the Icelandic captain.
 
"Last year we managed to win a match against every nation we played which was a great achievement, but unfortunately had only one team win," Gunnarsson added. "This year at least one win is our objective as a team. Two wins would mean a lot for a small nation as Iceland with a population of 330.000 people."
 
For updated information about Gunnarsson and his Icelandic teammates, visit http://www.daviscup.com/en/draws-results/group-iii/europe/2017.aspx.