New Delhi: India went down to Sweden in World Group I tie of Davis Cup in Stockholm on Sunday, losing for the sixth consecutive time to their European opponents.
India had lost both the singles games on Saturday and the pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji were unable to win the do or die doubles game.
Debutant Siddharth Vishwakarma lost the fourth tie in the singles game as India were comprehensivbely beaten in the tie.
To keep India alive in the tie, Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji had to win but they conceded the match to Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi 3-6 4-6 in 79 minutes.
With an unassailable 3-0 in the bag, Sweden stamped on their authority as India’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal decided to hand Vishwakarma his debut in the reverse singles.
Former national champion Vishwakarma struggled in his first match for the country, losing 2-6 2-6 to Elias Ymer, consigning India to fight in the play-offs next year to remain in World Group I.
Previously, India had fought it difficult to compete against Sweden, who were represented by top names but were at their weakest as they were devoid of any high-profile player this time around.
No joy in doubles
A lot rode on the Ramanathan-Balaji pair and they had an opportunity in game three to break and go ahead but couldn’t close out. Instead, Sweden broke Ramkumar in the next game that helped them build a 5-2 lead.
Bergevi held his serve at love to clinch the first game as both teams searched for a service break with the home team finding it on the seventh game when Balaji hit into the net to get broken.
Sweden kept hold of the lead despite the Indian pair’s best efforts to serve out the match in 10th game as Ramkumar’s forehand went wide on match point.
India will now have to fight in the play-offs next year to remain in World Group I of Davis Cup Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
