Davis Cup 2019 - India

[knarayen]

The weeklong camp in Kolkata was to evaluate current form of each player. Saki’s fitness level will be evaluated - that should give the captain some options for last-minute surprises, putting someone in based on current form, fitness etc. Swapping in Saki needs to be done with care if at all needed. Serve/volley from an in-form and fit Saki on South Club grass would be a nice weapon in any DC coach’s back pocket.

Prof

[Rajiv]

Mahesh has put the onus on Ram & Prajnesh to deliver ..
and in the below article has hinted LP is still in the scheme of things .

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spo ... 718653.cms

Meanwhile the Italians reached Calcutta yesterday and with only 5 days left for the tie , they must be working overtime to get used to the conditions

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/spo ... 712891.cms

[arjun2761]

Yes, onus is definitely on Prajnesh and RamK to deliver. Of course, we also have to win the doubles, where we would have the higher ranked team.

Putting in Saketh is an interesting thought as he is more of a volleyer than Prajnesh but Prajnesh is currently the better player and is consistently playing at the top of the challenger level and is shown himself to be competitive with top 100 opponents. He has 3 grass court wins at ATP Stuttgart (counting the qualies), so he can certainly play on grass. Unless Saketh is winning easily against RamK or Prajnesh in the practice matches, we should stick with Ramk and Prajnesh who are both fitter and have been competing at a higher level recently.

[Rajiv]

Corrado Bazarutti implying they are not the underdogs nor the favourites for the tie , and also blasts the new DC format.

https://www.telegraphindia.com/sport/co ... sport-page

[Rajiv]

Interview of Prajnesh in the below link.
But the worrying part is Zeeshan's comments; who finds the court very slow compared to the past, which means do we have a Wimbledon type of a playing surface. If so the Italians would find it much to their liking.

https://m.telegraphindia.com/sport/in-b ... sport-page

[jaydeep]

Mahesh discussed the usefulness of Lee for this Davis cup tie if the AITA has included him.

Leander Paes should have been in the mix, says Mahesh Bhupathi

[Rajiv]

So Mahesh will start with Prajnesh and Ram to open the proceedings

https://www.thehindu.com/sport/tennis/i ... 127767.ece

Looking at the Italians , their number #1 Player Marco Cechinato has played only 2 grass courts tournaments in 2018 and only 1 on 2017 with not so encouraging results ,hence definitely his least favoured surface. So good chance for Ram to close out this match.
Their # 2 Seppi on the other hand in in the past 2 years 2018 & 17 has almost done the complete grass court circuit for both the years barring Newport and has a Antalya semi’s in 2017 to boot , the same time when Ram was beating Domninc Thiem.

[Rajiv]

Considering his uninspiring form on grass , Barazuttii replaces their top player, 16 ranked Cecchinato with a 50th ranked Marteo Berrrettini , so Seepi becomes their # 1 and faces Ram in the opener, and Berrettni against Pragnesh in the second .
The first match is going to be very crucial , and now with some deft changes made by Corrado Barazutti , it will be a very tough and difficult opening match as compared to playing against Cecchinato.

[Rajiv]

Last year Berrettini has victories over Jack Sock and Dustin Brown on Grass , and at Halle where he beat Dustin Brown , Seppi went on to beat him to advance further.

[knarayen]

RamK has not played Berrettini, and Seppi has not played the Gunner before either. So this will be a test of the problem-solving skills on all sides on grass...so India should grab the upper hand when available. The opportunities may not be many - both opponents are in the top 50 (Berrettini is 53) and they will be tough to beat. I hope RamK wakes up on the right side of the bed on Friday. The Gunner against Seppi is much tougher for him because Seppi played well as recently as Sydney even though he is 34.

Prof

[knarayen]

I take it back....RamK plays Seppi first followed by the Gunner against Berrettini. Berrettini says he has played the Gunner at Chengdu,and RamK last year - doesn’t say where and the ATP tour site doesn’t have those details either.

Prof

[sameerph]

Berrettini beat Prajnesh 6-3 6-4 in Chengdu ATP qualies. He has not played RamK at all. Not sure which meeting he is talking about. Seppi has not played either of them but is generally considered a better player on grass than Berrettini. So, both Italians would be clear favotires tomorrow. I would be happy if we get at least 1 out of 2 wins tomorrow.

[arjun2761]

Berrettini beat Prajnesh 6-3 6-4 in Chengdu ATP qualies. He has not played RamK at all. Not sure which meeting he is talking about. Seppi has not played either of them but is generally considered a better player on grass than Berrettini. So, both Italians would be clear favotires tomorrow. I would be happy if we get at least 1 out of 2 wins tomorrow.

Also, Berrettini is 6'5", so he likely has a good serve on grass. Overall, grass does even the playing field given the uneven bounce but the Italians probably start as slight favorites in all the singles matches.

[RohitG]

Absolutely botched it by RamK with multiple double faults in the crucial 9th game and now Seppi serving for the set. So anticlimactic

[jaydeep]

Good to see Yuki is attending this Davis cup tie ... Yesterday, he attended the team supper.