Bopanna, Bhambri’s good form boosts India ahead of Davis Cup, Asiad
India take on Morocco in a two-day Davis Cup tie in Lucknow on September 16 and 17, and hosts want to use this opportunity to prepare well for the Asian Games in China later this month.
The Indian tennis team would not have ended up in the Davis Cup Group-II stage if the doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Yuki Bhambri had won their match against Holger Rune and Johannes Ingildsen as India suffered a 2-3 loss to Denmark this February.
Since then, things have changed a lot for the two Indians. They seem to be in their best form ahead of the India’s World Group-II Davis Cup tie against Morocco, scheduled to be played here next Saturday and Sunday (September 16 and 17) and for the upcoming Asian Games in China later this month.
Bhambri clinched his maiden title on the ATP World Tour, winning the doubles trophy at the Mallorca Championships with South African partner Lloyd Harris this July. The Indo-South African pair defeated the Dutch-Austrian combo of Robine Hasse and Philipp Oswald 6-3 6-4 in the final of the grass court event.
Bopanna, partnering with Australia’s Matthew Ebden, finished runners-up in doubles at the US Open on Friday night, losing to the two-time defending champions Rajeev Ram of USA and Britain’s Joe Salisbury 6-2, 3-6, 4-6.
Bopanna-Ebden made a dominating start in the summit clash by winning the first set 6-2, but failed to cash in on the golden opportunity as Ram-Salsbury made a good comeback and won it 6-3. The match went into the deciding set where the American-British pair turned out to be the eventual winners.
Both Bhambri and Bopanna faced first-round exits in the Wimbledon Championships this year, but their current form is good enough to give 40th-ranked India an upper hand against 55th-ranked Morocco in doubles. The two also have a good chance to win gold medals at the Asian Games as they are the best-ranked players among the lot of Asian players.
Bopanna’s fine show in the US Open is a shot in the arm for the Indian team, which would like to make full use of the opportunity to prepare well for the Asian Games by trying different combinations against Morocco on the hard courts of the Vijayant Khand Mini Stadium here. The two teams would be facing each other for the first time in Davis Cup.
The state capital is hosting its fifth Davis Cup tie after a gap of 22 years. The last time it hosted a Davis Cup tie featuring Leander Paes in 2000, was against Lebanon, at the grass courts of the Awadh Gymkhana.
Former Davis Cupper and team’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal sounded upbeat over Bopanna’s performance at the US Open and said that it’s going to be big boost to the confidence of the player as well as the team ahead of the Davis Cup tie against Morocco and at the Asian Games.
“It’s always a confidence booster and getting this into a Grand Slam final and losing a close match. It gives any player a lot of confidence and it works towards his advantage. He is coming directly to the Davis Cup from the final of the US Open, and we are sure about his good show here too,” said Rajpal who is said to have been instrumental in shaping the Indian Davis Cup team into a formidable force in international tennis.
However, Rajpal refused to say anything about the team’s doubles combination in the tie against Morocco. “It’s too early to decide as we will make a final call on this only after three days of training from tomorrow onwards. Much would also depend on what combination the rivals decide for the match,” he added.
The Morocco team led by Tahiri Mehd reached the state capital on Saturday morning, whereas the Indians, including the women’s team for the Asian Games camp, in batches are expected to reach Lucknow by Sunday morning as many of them are coming by road due to flights from Delhi not being operational. Other members of the Moroccan team are Benchetrit Elliot, Dlimi Yassine, Moundir Adam, Ahouda Walid, and Lalami Laaroussi Younes.
The Indian team will first hit the training session at 9 am followed by the training session of the Morocco team at 12 noon.
INDIA IN DAVIS CUP
First year played 1921
Years played 86
Ties played 205 (120 - 85)
Years in World Group 17 (7 - 17)
Most total wins Leander Paes (93 - 35)
Most singles wins Ramanathan Krishnan (50 - 19)
Most doubles wins Leander Paes (45 - 13)
Best doubles team Mahesh Bhupathi-Leander Paes (25 - 2)
Most ties played Leander Paes (58)
Most years played Leander Paes (30)
