Ramkumar Ramanathan believes India will have a slight edge over Denmark on the grass courts of the Delhi Gymkhana Club, but cautioned against taking the visitors lightly in their Davis Cup World Group I Play-off tie, beginning here on Friday.
Denmark’s top-ranked player Holger Rune had pulled out of the event last month and none of the others are top 200 players in the ATP world rankings.
“Ranking doesn’t matter in Davis Cup. Obviously they are a great team. Frederik Nielsen has been playing for so many years. He is the captain and he is pretty good. I have seen him play,” Ramanathan, the highest ranked Indian in the singles chart, said on Wednesday. Nielsen is more of a doubles player though.
“(Mikael) Torpegaard has been playing for few years. Out of college now, he does well in the US, he is a tricky player. We still have the advantage but its going to be a good tie.”
India lost 1-3 to Italy on grass at the Calcutta South Club in 2019. “Davis Cup is important. I make sure that I am in the team whenever I can. Obviously a victory in Davis Cup is something that stays with you forever,” Ramanathan said.
“We are playing on grass. We know the conditions better than the other team. That gives us a slight edge over any opponent. We are here early and we have been practising a lot. It is going to be fun. The courts are looking good.”
Ramanathan had a good start to the season with a doubles win in Adelaide along with Rohan Bopanna in January. “I have always played a mix of singles and doubles.
“I always tried playing doubles because it helps me get better at net and also improve my singles game,” Ramanathan said.
Nielsen ‘baffled’
“Baffled” by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Nielsen said he feels bad for the soldiers who were forced to go on war and lamented the “age of conflicts” that the world is living in right now.
Russia invaded Ukraine last week amid international condemnation. “I am baffled that it’s happening in our times. It’s an age of conflicts in which we are living in. It saddens me deeply and I feel very bad for the people who are told to go on war because someone has asked them to go,” Nielsen said.
