Biel (Switzerland), Sept 12: Pulled out of reserves, Dhakshineshwar Suresh stunned higher-ranked Jerome Kym of Switzerland in straight sets before Sumit Nagal made a triumphant return to the Davis Cup, placing India on the cusp of a rare win against a European side in an away tie, here Friday.
Captain Rohit Rajpal showed immense faith in Dhakshineshwar, playing him ahead of Aryan Shah, and the tall Chennai player did not disappoint, coming out a 7-6 (4) 6-3 winner against 155th ranked Kym.
Dhakshineshwar is placed 626 on the ATP charts but his stupendous game and confidence belied his low ranking. He charged the net a lot more after measuring the game of his opponent who seemed to be lacking a plan B.
Nagal, who is now struggling to stay inside top-300 after being in top-100 last year, made a winning return to the Davis Cup with a 6-3 7-6 (4) result against Marc-Andrea Huesler that gave India a commanding 2-0 lead at the end of day one.
India are now very close to pulling off a memorable Davis Cup win on the European soil as they need to win one of the three matches on Saturday.
The team of N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli will clash with Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker before the reverse singles are played.
A look at the Indian Davis Cup team’s travel history suggests that India managed to beat formidable Asian teams like Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan while touring but when it comes to a European team, its record is poor.
The last time India beat a European side in an away tie was back in 1993 in Cannes when Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishnan led the team to a 3-2 win over France in the quarterfinals.
Since the turn of the century, India have lost away ties to Sweden (2024), Denmark (2023), Norway (2022), Finland (2021), Croatia (2020), Italy (2019), Serbia (2018, 2011), Canada (2017), Russia (2010), Romania (2008), Sweden (2005), Netherlands (2003), and Sweden (2000).
It beat Denmark, though, at home on grass court in 2022 in New Delhi.
Huesler is placed 68 places above the Indian at 222 but Nagal produced one of the most competitive performances in his Davis Cup career to hand India the advantage.
Nagal broke left-handed Huesler in the very first game of the second singles to pull away. His aggressive tactics, court movement and angled shots left no breathing space for the home player.
Serving to stay in the set, Huesler made consecutive forehand errors to hand Nagal crucial break and the set.
At 5-5 and 30-all in the second set, Nagal’s serve came under pressure when Huesler found a winner to earn a breakpoint but Nagal saved that. The match was sealed in the tie-breaker with Nagal producing a crushing forehand winner to end the contest.
In the opening singles, Dhakshineshwar was in a spot after consecutive unforced errors put him down 0-40 in game four.
He, though, reeled off five straights points to keep it even. His serve yet again came under pressure. At 30-all in game six, the Indian kept hitting on the backhand of his rival and found a backhand winner himself to close the game.
Kym’s was not an explosive serve like his Indian counterpart but he kept hitting the right spots to stay ahead.
Dhakshineshwar began to charge the net more to earn points and that made a huge difference to how the match shaped up.
There was no break of serve and the opening set was decided via tie-breaker. Dhakshineshwar opened up a 5-3 lead when he blasted a forehand in the corner and Kym could not return.
In the longest rally of the match, Kym’s forehand landed on the net giving two set points to Dhakshineshwar. The Indian squandered the first with an inside-out forehand that kissed the net but converted the second with a backhand lob.
Kym got his first break chance in game five of the second set when Dhakshineshwar left a service return, thinking the ball is going out but it landed on the lines.
The Indian saved that chance and another to stay in control.
Dhakshineshwar faced more break points when he served again but came out with bazooka serves to save all. He did not miss his chances, though, as he broke Kym at love to take a commanding 5-3 lead.
Dhakshineshwar served out the match with an ace.
“I just stayed calm, played my game, no matter the situation is. There was a lot of pressure, going for country for the first time. I feel I handled it pretty well. I played with my strength,” said Dhakshineshwar.
“There were a few games where I could have broken but I relied on my serve which is my strength,” he added. (PTI)
