Yuki Bhambri returned to Davis Cup action with a commanding performance while Ramkumar Ramanathan did not even need his ‘A game’ to emerge victorious as India took a 2-0 lead in the World Group 1 Playoff first round match against Denmark, here on Friday.
Taking advantage of Christian Sigsgaard’s discomfort on the grass court, Ramkumar cruised to a 6-3, 6-2 win over the Dane, ranked as low as 824, in the opening singles of the tie at Delhi Gymkhana Club.
Their match lasted just 59 minutes, as Sigsgaard made it easy for the 170th-ranked Indian with a stream of unforced errors. Bhambri, playing in the Davis Cup for the first time since 2017, doubled India’s lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the second singles against Mikael Torpegaard.
India’s strategy to host Denmark on grass courts worked well as tackling the low bounce clearly was difficult for the visitors. Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will now strive to seal the tie for India on Saturday when they take on Frederik Nielsen and Johannes Ingildsen in the doubles.
If they win, India will keep their place in World Group I and the reverse singles will be rendered inconsequential. Even if they lose, India just need one win on Saturday to wrap up the tie.
“In Davis Cup, it’s more about fighting than playing well. I fought well and hard today,” Yuki said after his win. “The match was always in my control. It was a matter of stringing a few points together,” he said when asked about the scoreline changing from 4-1 to 5-4 in second set.
Skipper Rohit Rajpal praised both his singles players. “Yuki played at a high level. He was match sharp. Ramkumar too played with confidence.
“He was sharp in the first set. The idea was to keep it low and trouble them. The players executed the strategy well. We had planned to go up 2-0 and we did that,” he said.
Ramkumar too was happy with his effort. “I served pretty well, I was sharp. The team and fan support also made a big difference.
“I just had to stay with the ball and make returns. A few free points also did the trick,” he said.
