Nagal dumped, Ramkumar fielded for Davis Cup qualifiers

Zagreb, March 5

In a bold decision, underdogs India preferred Ramkumar Ramanathan over No. 1 singles player Sumit Nagal for their clash against top seeds Croatia in the Davis Cup Qualifiers beginning here tomorrow.

The hosts will be led by world No. 37 Marin Cilic, and the 2014 US Open champion is the only top-50 singles player in their ranks.

The absence of Croatia’s best-ranked player, Borna Coric (world No. 33), means that Indians can go after their second singles player Borna Gojo, who is yet to win a match in the Davis Cup. Getting two points from Gojo is very much possible for the visitors, considering that he is placed 277th in the ATP rankings chart, which is below the two Indian singles players. Non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal said the conditions demanded that Ramanathan (world No. 182) should play instead of Nagal. “The courts are medium-paced with low bounce. It is suiting Ramkumar more because Sumit is not getting the bite with his top-spin from back of the court,” Rajpal said.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran, who missed India’s last Davis Cup tie because of his marriage, said that the lack of a strong second singles player in the rival line-up could work to India’s advantage. “We are hoping to come with our A game. We definitely have a better chance in the absence of Borna Coric and hopefully we can capitalise on that. The hard indoor courts suit us,” said Gunneswaran.

Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will play the doubles rubber against Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor. — PTI

Best bet?

India have not won an away tie against a strong opponent for a long time and now seems to be their best chance. They lost to Serbia (2018) and Canada (2017), missing out on the World Group qualification. The last time India played Croatia in the Davis Cup, India won 3-2 in New Delhi in 1995 on grass.