Korea set to welcome Nagal, Dhakshineswar with \"slow, low-bounce\" court

Korea set to welcome Nagal, Dhakshineswar with \"slow, low-bounce\" court

Seoul, India's singles players Sumit Nagal and Dhakshineswar Suresh will have to negotiate a slow, low-bounce court and balls that quickly become heavy and fluffy when they take on South Korea in their Davis Cup Qualifier Round 2 tie, starting Friday.

Korea set to welcome Nagal, Dhakshineswar with \"slow, low-bounce\" court

Nagal's preference for a higher bounce and Suresh's big serve are both likely to be affected as the court has been resurfaced ahead of the September 19-20 contest.

India captain Rohit Rajpal said the Koreans had prepared conditions that could counter the strengths of both Indian singles players.

"They have resurfaced the court with a lot of thought and intelligence where they have actually tried to counter both our players," Rajpal told PTI after a training session.

"The court is slow. But at the same time, the bounce is not there. Sumit likes the balls to bounce because he rolls a lot. But the balls are not bouncing."

Nagal, who relies heavily on his baseline game, likes to work with a higher-bouncing ball, while Suresh's powerful serve could lose some of its effectiveness on a slower surface.

"They have slowed it down because DK also does not like slow courts. He has a huge serve. So, they countered it again with this thing," Rajpal said.

The balls are making the conditions even more demanding, according to the Indian captain.

"The balls are getting fluffed up every third game. So, they slow down quite a bit and they become heavy," he said.

India, however, have time to adapt to the conditions after arriving in Seoul early.

"They have the home-court advantage this time. So, we're going to try and... The good part is that we got here earlier and we know. Now we need to see how to strategize and convert this into a strength," Rajpal said.

Rajpal said dealing with unfamiliar conditions was part of the Davis Cup, where host nations often select surfaces that give them an advantage.

"We do it too. I mean, we get a lot of teams coming to India and we used to play them on grass courts. But they would have never played on grass courts in their lives. So, this is part of Davis Cup," he said.

The Indian team will have to remain flexible during the tie and be prepared to change its tactics if the initial strategy does not work.

"If plan A is not working, then plan B needs to be executed. And we always have A, B, C plans all the time," Rajpal said.

Despite the challenging conditions, Rajpal feels the two teams are evenly matched, with the outcome likely to be decided by which side handles the pressure and big points better.

"I think that the teams are pretty even. And I mean, they are a strong team to get here. They beat Argentina. I mean, Argentina is a very tough team to beat," he said.

"The difference is going to be on the day of play, who is going to really rise to the occasion and take the pressure well and play the big points well."

Youngster Manas Dhamne could also get an opportunity to make his Davis Cup debut, although Rajpal said the decision would depend on how the opening day's matches unfold.

The captain said he was been keen to expose younger players to the pressure of Davis Cup.

"If I get a chance, I would certainly like to play him," Rajpal said of Dhamne.

"The idea is that we're trying to get the younger guys also in so that they understand these pressures. They get trained."

Rajpal said India were keen to build a strong pipeline rather than find themselves short of experienced players when the current generation moves on.

"Every time we play, we have a bunch of youngsters all the time so that your pipeline is getting ready," he said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.