New Delhi: India was defeated in the World Group I tie of Davis Cup by Sweden on Sunday at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm. After losing the opening two singles rounds on Saturday, the doubles pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji went down to Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi 3-6, 4-6 in 79 minutes.
World No.588 Siddharth Vishwakarma was handed his Davis Cup debut in the reverse singles round (fourth round). The 29-year-old was no match against Elias Ymer as India lost 4-0 to Sweden, which recorded their sixth defeat against the European side in the prestigious event.
India will now have to fight in the play-offs next year to continue in the World Cup Group I. One of the biggest concerns raised by Indian tennis viewers was regular doubles players being asked to play singles tie. N Sriram Balaji hasn’t been regular in the singles event for close to two years, though he played as India’s second singles player against Pakistan veteran Aqeel Khan in Islamabad earlier in the year.
With the absence of higher-ranked singles players Sumit Nagal and Mukund Sasikumar, the Indian captain Rohit Rajpal was forced to field Balaji in the double role.
In the press conference after the loss, a reporter pointed out to Rajpal that Indian tennis community believes that the results would have been different if either of the prominent names like Leander Pase, Mahesh Bhupathi or Somdev Devvarman assumed the captain’s role. Responding to this, Rajpal lashed out saying:
“Since the time I took over, these guys have always been saying something negative to provoke or to get some reaction out of me. They (my players) are very welcome to say things, what they feel (to me). I am here for my country, ready to do whatever it takes. I am here to do my national duties.”
“All these people (critics), I want to say one thing to them: ‘SHUT UP’. First thing. And second thing, if you really care that much, don’t sit in your air-conditioned rooms and talk. Get out here and show what you can do. ”
The video clip of the whole response was shared by Indian Tennis Daily on its Instagram platform. Checkout the video here:
Rohit Rajpal skipped Pakistan tie due to personal reasons
Rohit Rajpal opted out from India’s visit to Islamabad in the World Group I playoff fixture against Pakistan. The 53-year-old former Indian tennis player cited medical reasons at his home to skip the tie. In his absence, Zeeshan Ali had doubled up for the role of coach as well as non-playing captain. India defeated Pakistan 4-0 to advance to the World Group I tie.
ndia was defeated in the World Group I tie of Davis Cup by Sweden on Sunday at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm. After losing the opening two singles rounds on Saturday, the doubles pair of Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji went down to Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi 3-6, 4-6 in 79 minutes. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
