Sumit Nagal saved India the blushes with a commanding win after Sasikumar Mukund limped out of the opening singles in testing humid conditions on the opening day of the Davis Cup World Group II tie against Morocco here on Saturday. The teams are placed 1-1.

A brief spell of rain before the match made the conditions challenging, and it came down to the fitness levels of the players.

After being on court for three hours and five minutes, the 26-year-old Mukund conceded the battle between the debutants, soon after taking a medical timeout at 1-2 in the third set.

Cramping badly and grimacing in pain, he retired when the score was 7-6 (4), 5-7, 1-4.

Placed 156 on the ATP singles chart, Nagal expectedly brought the team back with a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 win over Adam Moundir, ranked 779.

Nagal and Moundir played some gripping tennis. Both the players hit the ball hard. Nagal, who is in good form and is enjoying a good run in the Challenger circuit, controlled the points well and made less unforced errors compared to his rival.

Moundir showed stomach for a fight but did not put enough balls inside the lines. Clearly, Nagal’s experience was a huge plus.

After breaking Moundir in the fifth game, Nagal dropped his serve immediately but found a way to break the Moroccon twice to run away with the opening set.

Rohan Bopanna will play the last match of his Davis Cup career on Sunday with Yuki Bhambri.

Murray’s grief

Andy Murray wept after revealing he missed his grandmother’s funeral to play in the Davis Cup Finals in Manchester. Murray came from behind to beat Leandro Riedi 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-4 and give Britain a winning start in their 2-1 victory over Switzerland in the group stage of the finals on Friday.

“Today is a tough day for me. It’s my gran’s funeral today,” Murray said.

“I’m sorry to my family that I’m not able to be there but, gran, this one’s for you.”