Davis Cup 2019 - India

[rajitghosh]

No Leander at South Club, Calcutta? The crowd would make it an away match for India!!

[Varma]

No Leander at South Club, Calcutta? The crowd would make it an away match for India!!

For the first time in many years, our best singles player is not only ranked high but has been preforming at or above his ranking consistently (if you excuse his loss today). The next best player, even though not at his personal best, loves to play on grass and thrives on it. After many years our two best doubles players have teamed up for the tour. The reserves are looking good. This team is perhaps the best we have fielded in more than a decade, be it on talent or camaraderie. Fans at South Club are one of the most knowledgeable fans in the world, so you don't have to worry about this tie turning out to be an "away" tie. Looks like you are missing the perpetual DC drama that we are all used to for the last Zillion years

- Varma

[prasen9]

I do hope that South Club crowd sees that we are in a post-Leander stage and supports the team fully. This also depends upon Leander. He could put his 100% behind the team and show up and cheer (or not, if he is playing elsewhere). Or, he could create more media chaos and then the Kolkata crowd could be hostile I am not so sure about the Bengalis keeping their emotions under control even if they are knowledgeable especially if it is stoked by Leander.

[sameerph]

Yes, I think this is the best team available in the circumstances with Yuki injured and Rohan-Divij playing together on tour. If they had not been playing together, I would have tempted to play Leander on South club grass courts but playing a couple of tournaments together as a pair gives an edge to Rohan-Divij.

Apart from Mukund who is the first reserve, Sumit Nagal, Arjun Kadhe and Siddharth Wishwakarma will also be there at the venue and there will be a camp of 10 days from 21st to 30th January with all those players in Kolkata.

So, it will be 2 weeks investment for a 2 day tie which will be worth it if we can pull off a win.

[sameerph]

Italian #1 Fabio Fognini is not travelling to India for the davis cup. So, some relief for us but still a very strong team for Italy.

Marco Cecchinato ( Singles- 18 )
Andeas Seppi (Singles- 35 , doubles- 224)
Matteo Berretini ( Singles- 54, doubles- 131)
Thomas Fabbiano ( Singles-102, doubles -334)
Simone Bollelli (Singles- 134, doubles 88)

[bujilover]

True. Seppi himself is enough to seal the deal for his team.

[RohitG]

That's going to be the interesting part- whether Seppi plays the singles rubber(s) He did play at Aus Open doubles partnering Bolleli. So major chances that these two will feature against Bopanna/Sharan. It might be a blessing in disguise if Seppi only plays the doubles since he's the most experienced and has better performances on grass than the rest

[PKBasu]

True. Seppi himself is enough to seal the deal for his team.

Far from true on a real grass court -- like Newport or the South Club. Wimbledon has been tamed to play almost like a clay court, but real grass courts have uneven bounce and favour real serve-volleyers, the type of game that RamK is very good at. We can expect RamK, if he is confident going in, to win 2 singles matches on real grass courts. Prajnesh, if he plays like he did at Stuttgart, could easily fetch us another match or two. We are favourites on grass, regardless of rankings!

[knarayen]

South CLub Grass courts are probably the only “untamed” grass courts left. Most players except Indians used to have problems with these courts. Ramanathan Krishnan in his famous 1960’s DC win over Brazil played the tie on these courts if I remember correctly.

I’m optimistic that the Italians will struggle in Calcutta.

Prof

[sameerph]

Couple of articles on davis cup tie-

Davis Cup: Mahesh Bhupathi's captaincy on the line in Italy.

Davis Cup: I can do well on grass against Italy, says Prajnesh

Good that our team has gathered at the venue well in advance ahead of the Italian team.

[jayakris]

I think we will pull this off. Just a hunch. Jay

[Rajiv]

Just to think outside the box, it might be worthwhile to consider Saki for the second singles,  as Saki has a better grass court game and is a natural serve and volleyer with a big serve,  But this option would be subject to Saki being 100% fit and the Captain could determine his fitness level during the ongoing training camp.

[sameerph]

Saki ahead of whom, RamK or Prajnesh ?

[Rajiv]

I would prefer taking this risk over Prajnesh, Had it been clay or hard courts PG would be a preferred logical choice ,
But on grass Saki has much better attributes in terms of serve and volleying skills and big serves ,but all of this subject to his fitness level.and if he is fit , it might be worth taking this gamble.

[Omkara]

Is Saki fit enough to last?