Davis Cup 2019 - India

[PKBasu]

The Davis Cup is basically dead. This was the last tie played approximately in line with the old system. The glorious matches of the past will soon become a distant memory...

[arjun2761]

As we have seen in last few years, the current batch of players are very good at Asian level but short of world group level. Since, 2014 we have reached world group playoff stage every year but lost 6 straight matches against that opposition- Serbia (twice),Czech Republic, Spain,Canada and now Italy.

We need to have 2 singles players of at least top 75 level to starting to beat these teams and a decent doubles team.

One positive in this loss is win by Rohan-Divij who beat a quality team which should give them some confidence.

Yes, Divij and Rohan doing well is a positive as they can be a good doubles team for a couple more years.

Fully agree that RamK and Prajnesh (and Yuki before that) are essentially players whose play ceiling is what their rankings are. Therefore, they generally will struggle to play against top 50 type players in Davis Cup situations where the higher ranked players are generally focused on winning. There was some hope that RamK on grass is significantly better than his current #133 ranking but it looked like Seppi is a better player on grass and that essentially took care of our chances of winning.

[jayakris]

The Davis Cup is basically dead. This was the last tie played approximately in line with the old system. The glorious matches of the past will soon become a distant memory...

I had the same feeling this weekend. It just didn't feel like Davis Cup.

[sameerph]

Korea and Pakistan away, Lebenon at home. Korea will be tricky if Chung plays, other 2 should be easy.

So, It is India vs. Pakistan in Pakistan in September.

Now, this is going to be tricky. Not the match if it is played but whether our team will travel to Pakistan for this tie. None of our teams have travelled in last 10 years at least if I remember correctly.

Will the team be allowed to travel to Pakistan ? And if no, can we force ITF to play this at a neutral venue or it will be forfeit for us ? It will be a difficult decision for ITF since Korea and Uzbekistan did play their ties in Pakistan in last 2 years.

[RohitG]

Worst scenario. I was hoping we draw Lebanon or China. China at home would have been a better tie. Govt policy is to not allow teams to play there. If tennis happens, soon there will be a demand for cricket. Pakistan knowing that they get to play in world group playoff if we boycott, will try it's best to host. ITF needs to be told there's a difference between North Korea, Uzbekis traveling there and Indians travelling there. For us, there are security concerns for our players, so we should try for a neutral venue. Bhupathi and Zeeshan Ali have welcomed the draw, are confident of winning the tie but didnt reply when asked about team traveling there. It's not that tensions are high, Bopanna and Qureshi are good friends. How will that pan out? Will Mirza unnecessarily be targeted in the crossfire by twitter trolls? Will 2019 elections make a difference in policy? Pandora's box this.

[arjun2761]

Yes, there is huge difference between India and almost anyone else traveling to Pakistan. They should petition for a neutral venue and if not granted we should forfeit. There is not need to legitimize the illegitimate bug country.

[prasen9]

If Pakistan can assure security and we evaluate it to see that it is truly adequate, then there is no reason we should not play there. It is stupid to not do so. The legitimacy of Pakistan does not belong to us alone. The world already recognizes it. It has existed for over 70 years. I would think the new generation does not care. Only the old folks like to believe that Pakistan does not exist or is illegitimate.

[jayakris]

Yeah, we should play if the bug country can offer sufficient security. There is nothing illegitimate about the bug country. They are a fully legitimate country, but just a pest. No need to give the pests any importance by not playing them. Take them as nothing more than bugs, so go swat them. Beat them bugs black and blue.

[Atithee]

If Pakistan can assure security and we evaluate it to see that it is truly adequate, then there is no reason we should not play there. It is stupid to not do so. The legitimacy of Pakistan does not belong to us alone. The world already recognizes it. It has existed for over 70 years. I would think the new generation does not care. Only the old folks like to believe that Pakistan does not exist or is illegitimate.

Who is questioning the legitimacy of the birth of Pakistan? No one I know—old or young. It’s their conduct that most Indians question.

[sameerph]

Arjun did say about legitimacy of Pakistan a couple of posts above.

Anyway, we will have to exercise our greater clout with ITF to try to force for a neutral venue. As of now it looks difficult for an Indian team travelling to Pakistan since no team has in last 10+ years. ITF will find it difficult to accommodate our request though given that 2 ties with Korea and Uzbekistan played there. Also in a similar instance when Australian team refused to travel to India for a tie which was scheduled after Mumbai blasts, ITF made Australia forfeit the tie.

So, precedence is not with us in this case.

Going back to group 2 would mean losing 1 year unnecessarily when we are looking to get to the world group.

[Atithee]

Thanks for pointing Arjun’s post to me. I had missed that.

[sameerph]

Latest on the tie-

Islamabad set to host Pak-India Davis Cup tie

There were reports earlier that government is inclined to allow the team to travel to Pakistan.

[Omkara]

Latest on the tie-

Islamabad set to host Pak-India Davis Cup tie

There were reports earlier that government is inclined to allow the team to travel to Pakistan.

I hope we don't play Davis Cup tie with that bug country in their backyard.

[knarayen]

Latest on the tie-

Islamabad set to host Pak-India Davis Cup tie

There were reports earlier that government is inclined to allow the team to travel to Pakistan.

I hope we don't play Davis Cup tie with that bug country in their backyard.

Surprisingly no mention of Qureishi in the article. Islamabad tennis club on grass courts is looks like.

[prasen9]

The terrorist attack possibly resolves this issue. While you can play with a hostile country during peacetime, you cannot during times of war.