If India’s upcoming Davis Cup match in opposition to Finland is to be a tricky one, Thursday’s draw turned out to be in favor of the guests. India will play in World Group 1 for the primary time for the reason that change in format in 2020. In the earlier set-up, India will play within the Asia/Oceania group, the place they’ve dominated for the final seven years. But of their first match in opposition to Finland, the Indians come up in opposition to a workforce that may subject extremely ranked gamers.
It is 22-year-old Emil Rusuvuori – who has overwhelmed the likes of Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev – who’s the highest-ranked singles participant within the tie, 74. His doubles workforce consists of world quantity 76 (in doubles) Harry Heliovara. and former No. 1 Henry Continen (presently 46), who gained the 2016 Wimbledon blended doubles and 2017 Australian Open males’s doubles titles. His weakest hyperlink on paper is 20-year-old Otto Vertanen, who ranks 419.
India will tackle Finland within the Davis Cup.
Importantly for the Indians, the opening rubber will see their No. 1 participant Prajnesh Gunneswaran (165) developing in opposition to Vartanen.
“We are happy that (Prajnesh) plays first. If he plays and performs to the best of his ability, we should go 1-0 up, and the pressure will be on (Rusuvuri) to beat Ramkumar (Ramanathan),” says Indian workforce captain Rohit Rajpal.
“Ram is a really versatile participant. We are making ready him effectively for this match.”
Ramkumar, India’s third highest-ranked singles participant with 187, will play his second rubber in opposition to the Finnish spearhead on Friday.
On Saturday, the tie will resume with a doubles rubber solely. India No 1 and a pair of Rohan Bopanna (44) and Divij Sharan (86) will play Kontinen and Heliovara respectively, adopted by a reverse singles match – Rusuvuori-Prajnesh and Vartanen-Ramakumar as the ultimate match.
The ‘luck’ component from the draw for the guests on the Espoo Metro Arena is that Finland’s primary singles participant will play within the second and fourth rounds. As Rajpal claims, Prajnesh would be the favourite to win in opposition to Wirtenen to place strain on Rusuvuori.
Also, on Saturday, if the tie ends at 2-2 and goes into the deciding spherical, he’ll tackle 26-year-old Ramkumar, who will journey to Espoo afresh after reaching the quarter-finals. A challenger in France, who beat former world No. 10 Ernest Gulbis on the way in which.
Ramkumar, India’s third highest-ranked singles participant with 187, will play his second rubber in opposition to the Finnish spearhead on Friday.
Prajnesh nevertheless, who reached a profession excessive of 75 and is presently an lively Indian singles participant to interrupt into the highest 100, has been affected by wrist accidents this 12 months. If he doesn’t match for the fourth rubber in a best-of-five match tie, he will likely be changed by the bottom ranked singles participant within the tie, world quantity 573 Saketh Myneni, whose final aggressive match was at a futures occasion in March. . .
Still, confidence stays about Prajnesh’s present health.
Team coach Zeeshan Ali says, “He is hitting the ball very effectively and there are not any indicators of any sort of harm.
“There was a scare just a few weeks in the past when he advised me that his wrist was bothering him. He went again to Chennai to get some rehab. But coming right here he’s hitting the ball effectively, he’s transferring effectively. Along with velocity and all the things, the courtroom additionally appears to be suiting him. It’s the perfect I’ve seen him play.” The objective can be to focus on two singles matches in opposition to Vertanen and a doubles match to realize the three factors wanted to win the tie. Against a tricky opponent, at an indoor venue initially designed for ice hockey, India are anticipated to make eight consecutive playoffs.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
