Davis Cup 2022: Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri give India 2-0 lead vs Denmark
Both Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri won their singles tennis matches in straight sets.
The Indian tennis team got off to a good start against Denmark in their Davis Cup 2022 World Group I playoff tie with Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri winning their respective singles matches on Friday.
With the two wins on the first day, India lead Denmark 2-0 in the five-match series.
In the first match, Ramkumar Ramanathan, who is the highest-ranked Indian men’s singles player at 170, defeated world No. 824 Christian Sigsgaard 6-3, 6-2.
Yuki Bhambri meanwhile, won against Denmark’s Mikael Torpegaard 6-4, 6-4 in the second match.
In the opening rubber at the Delhi Gymkhana Club, Ramkumar Ramanathan adapted to the slow grass court surface quickly and got the first break of the match to lead 3-1. The Indian continued to dominate and sealed the first set with ease.
The second set followed a similar pattern as Ramanathan broke Christian Sigsgaard in the third game to lead 2-1. Ramanathan then held all of his four serves to give India a 1-0 lead.
Unlike the first match, the second match was tightly contested by Yuki Bhambri, ranked 590th, and Mikael Torpegaard, who is 305th in the ATP rankings.
Yuki Bhambri broke the Dane in the first game and held his serve to go 2-0 up in the first set.
Mikael Torpegaard adjusted to the low bounce and took the next four games. Yuki Bhambri, however, fought back to go 1-0 up in the match.
Yuki Bhambri stepped up in the next set and went 4-0 up. The Dane tried to mount a comeback by winning four of the next five games but Yuki Bhambri managed to win the set and match.
On Saturday, India’s doubles team of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will be up against Johannes Ingildsen and Danish captain Frederik Nielsen in the first match.
Ramanathan and Bhambri, meanwhile, will face Torpegaard and Sigsgaard respectively in the reverse singles matches.
India need to win any one of the three matches on Saturday to win the five-match series.
A victory in the playoff tie will see India make Davis Cup 2022 World Group I stage while a loss will see them drop into Group II. India have never fallen below the Group I stage.