Davis Cup 2019 - India

[PKBasu]

We are really stupid, aren't we? If Delhi has to host it, why not the DLTA grass courts (on which Vijay and Ramesh clobbered Argentina in March 1987)?

[prasen9]

I must admit. This is totally brainless.

[Florian Buechting]

Me too... Absolutely shocking to read that. I guess India has voted for the DC reform... If you want to cash in the money for qualification and have choice of ground, you have to invest to host it under conditions which give you the best chances. No idea why Chennai does not want to host... and why we cannot do grasscourts...

Still have the option to go for Germany-Hungary that weekend (many Hungarian friends... )...

[knarayen]

I read the article and it made no sense - delhi gymkhana was out because of security? Total BS. Looks like AITA wanted it at the DLTA. Vijay wont turn down a DC tie in Chennai - that is a definite lie and if Vijay gets to hear of this I'm sure he'll deny it. No mention of south club Calcutta, sad.

Prof

[Rajiv]

Chandigarh too could have been considered as a Grass Court Venue.
The Only surface (Grass) the Italians are least comfortable on and we go out of the way to make things easier for them .

[RohitG]

I don't understand the logic behind this. Mahesh wanted it to be on grass, Amritraj rules out TNTA hosting it, associations like MSLTA are struggling with funding and Delhi grass is not an option because of security reasons.. So they choose Delhi Hard surface? Chandigarh, Kolkata could have been better options.. It seems that we're doing this because it's a formality. This decision shows lack of intent.. The Italians have 4 strong singles players even if Fognini skips it. The only advantage we have is choice of ground and we squander it away. When we're on the receiving end, like how it was in Serbia, the opponents always make sure to use the weather, the courts and the home support to rally their team ahead.

This is an article from an Italian site on their chances against India: Link

They are judging purely based on rankings and the author has minced no words while assessing our #1 player. To be frank, that seems to be a fair assessment considering we just handed our little chances over to them with our choice of ground. I would have disagreed with the link with "rankings don't matter in Davis cup" and also noting that RamK and Prajnesh are no pushovers but now it's clearly advantage Italy.

[knarayen]

I'm now thinking that Yuki likely was consulted on the venue choice - maybe he is timing his comeback here and after all he favours hard courts i think.

Prof

[sameerph]

It looks like there is change of heart and tie may now be played on grass -

India may face Italy on grass

[Prashant]

Good. Grass, with RamK and Prajnesh, and forget about Yuki.

[prasen9]

Wrt the 27ft vs 21ft, we should tell them, "arre' bhai, India is a densely populated country. Our concept of personal space is smaller than that of the rest of the world. So, we only give 21ft to the players. Where will we find more space if there are so many people around?" That should do it.

[jayakris]

At least Mahesh seems to be saying that we will try to play on grass even if it is not in Kolkata. But this one needs to be in Kolkata. It's about time that we had some South Club magic come into play.

[prasen9]

If it is the same in all the other major grass courts, i.e., we have a 21 foot space instead of 27, we should try to get it to Kolkata. If not, then we should go to wherever we have conforming courts.

[jayakris]

If it is the same in all the other major grass courts, i.e., we have a 21 foot space instead of 27, we should try to get it to Kolkata. If not, then we should go to wherever we have conforming courts.

I don't think you will find 27 feet anywhere, except on some of the single center courts or show courts at big venues like Wimbledon. And we don't have (like most countries) any big show courts with grass. I don't know why ITF is insisting on this now. Maybe a ploy to make sure that the ties will be played at big enough venues, as a few more lowly nations will now be playing world group ties.

But the rulebook does say that it should be 27 feet "unless approved by ITF". So there is wiggle room. The South Club being a hallowed venue for nearly 100 years, the case may be easier to make for Kolkata.

South Club cannot extend the baseline area because there are arecanut trees at one end and and lighting poles at the other, right behind the back wall/sceen. It is generally the case at Jaipur, Chandigarh etc too, where the grass courts are side by side. And moving the wall or screen backward, laying grass for an extra 6 ft at both ends, and all that is not going to happen anyway.

So, if ITF insists on this, the only option would be to change the orientation of the court at the South Club. There are three or four grass courts side by side. Make one court lengthwise, and we can play. Easier said than done, but doable. Knowing the usual Kolkata attitude, however, I am sure that some old fart will object, and AITA will use that excuse to take it out of there to some place where they would do what is needed.

[Rajiv]

For once AITA has behaved sensibly and listened to the Captain and the players

[PKBasu]

This is a wonderful development. I was at South Club for the wonderful win over Switzerland in 1993, and there was ample space behind the baseline. Maybe that court alignment has changed now, but hopefully they'll do the needful to host the Davis Cup.