Davis Cup 2022: Rohan Bopanna-Divij Sharan help India wrap up playoffs tie against Denmark
Building on Saturday’s 2-0 lead, the Indian doubles tennis pair came from behind to win a hard-fought three-setter and settled the five-match series. India eventually won 4-0.
The Indian tennis team defeated Denmark in its Davis Cup 2022 World Group I playoffs tie at the Delhi Gymkhana Club on Saturday.
India headed into the second day of the tie with a 2-0 lead after Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri won their respective singles rubbers on Friday. On Saturday, Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan wrapped up the five-match series with a 6(3)-7(7), 6-4, 7(7)-6(4) victory over Danish captain Frederik Nielsen and his partner Mikael Torpegaard.
Frederik Nielsen, a former Wimbledon doubles champion, was due to partner Johannes Ingildsen initially but the Denmark team management decided to swap in Torpegaard, the highest-ranked Danish player in the tie, for the crunch match.
Both teams went toe-to-toe in the first set, holding their serves. With the score at 6-6, however, the Danes upped their ante in the tie-breaker to win the set 6(3)-7(7).
The loss brought out an immediate response from the Indians as Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan broke their Danish opponents in the very first game of the second set and rode the momentum to level the tennis match up at 1-1.
In the third and deciding set, with a capacity crowd at the venue egging them on, the Indians dug deep to save three match points in the 12th game and took the affair to a tie-breaker, which they won 7-4.
The doubles victory meant India won the five-match series with an unassailable 3-0 lead and sealed their spot in the Davis Cup 2022 World Group I stage. India had dropped down to the Group I playoffs after losing to Finland in the Group I tie in the Davis Cup 2021 season.
Later in the day, Ramanathan beat Johannes Ingildsen 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 in a dead rubber to make it 4-0. The fifth match wasn’t played.