Davis Cup 2018 - India

[rajitghosh]

Great win. Time for Leander to retire gracefully. He has nothing left to prove or achieve. I hope Yuki is available for the playoffs so that we can at least put up a fight.

[knarayen]

What great news to wake up to...

Somehow in the back of my mind I had the feeling that Paes will be pumped up for the doubles...after all the record was at stake.

I am sure that the inspired performance from Lee/Bops got RamK and the Gunman fired up.

Great decision by Hesh to put the Gunman in for the final tie.

Wow...what a turnaround...I am pumped......

Prof

[Prashant]

Oh wow, how fantastic to wake up to this news!! Fantastic job by the whole team!! With Yuki back, maybe we can now make some noise in a qualifier!!

[jaydeep]

Mahesh posted video on Instagram of winning celebration after Prajnesh won the match point ... Check enthusiasm of Leander to hug Mahesh and Prajnesh.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhQ-6-GFVoX ... =mbhupathi

mbhupathiI - mentioned it would be a good day this morning only because when we spoke in the locker room last evening I could sense the shame we felt as a team on how we performed while wearing the India colours.. today was a new day and the message was clear .. as a captain I am super proud to be able to lead a group of guys who head the heart and will to turn it around. God knows we had enough reasons to throw in the towel on this one but you guys fought like champions and made the country proud.. @prajnesh enjoy this one, you were outstanding and literally everything u achieve in tennis post this will feel second to the feeling you had today when you brought home the tie.. now somebody get me a shot of something !!! @rohanbopanna0403 @leanderpaes @nagalsumit @ramkumar_ramanathan #keeptheflagflying #neversaydie #teamindia #supportteam @gaurangpt

[bujilover]

Prajnesh

[jai_in_canada]

So were our boys using the first two matches to acclimatize, practice, and warm up? Or did they just want to give us all heart attacks? Wow! What a come back from the cliff edge!!

If Bollywood made a tennis movie, this would be the script! Has all the characters, twists, turns, drama, and the ultimate scripted ending where the good guys beat their arch rivals against all odds under alien and impossible conditions! The only way this could have been more dramatic is if Lee won the fifth rubber on top of a moving train with the Chinese army shooting at him from helicopters buzzing overhead!

[punarayan]

Holy Molly. Holy Cow. Holy Toledo. Holy Mackerel - I don't know what to say! This is maybe more fantastic than Brazil, France or any other tie. Under the conditions, the heart shown is astounding. Mahesh demonstrated that he has his noodles together to insert Prajnesh. Wow! Time to contact Florian's travel agent. After following India DC for sixty years, it maybe time to attend one of these.

[Ayush1234567]

Feeling that it might be Japan (90 percent ) or GB( 10 Percent).

[sameerph]

Finally, there were 2 big calls by captains in this match which went either way for both teams.

Mahesh made the decision to replace Sumit with Prajnesh. Sumit has been talked of as our most talented youngster and I believe is financial supported by Mahesh or his company. But, it was great on part of Mahesh to set aside his personal preferences and go with his instinct/ gut feel ( or based on how they played in practice ) and choose Prajnesh. That proved to be a masterstroke in the end.

On the other hand, Chinese captain took a decision to play a pair who had beat much higher ranked New Zealand pair in February and that meant not playing their best singles player Zhe Zhang in singles. They were just 2 points away from succeeding in this plan and getting a 3-0 win but it was not to be.

As Jay said, they were just not destined to win against us despite whatever they did.

[S_K_S]

Way to go Prajnesh. What a win by him. Slightly irked that all the media coverage is about Lee's record and the win rather than it be about Prajnesh winning the crucial tie against the Chinese wonder kid.

[sameerph]

Possible opponents (just looking at the teams coming down from World Group - I could imagine that some of them, esp. Hungary, have a comparably weak ranking):

Netherlands - in INDIA
Japan - in INDIA
Great Britian - in INDIA
Australia - abroad
Switzerland - abroad
Canada - the revenge, in INDIA
Serbia - abroad
Hungary - decided by lot

There is some good stuff in the box, I guess. All home ties could be quite good. Switzerland abroad is not too bad if Roger is not playing. Hungary will be a great one. So it is likely we run into Serbia or Australia...

Haha! With our luck, it will be Serbia or Australia abroad, like you say.

But 4.5 out of 7 is not bad odds to get a home tie. Let us hope for that.

This will change based on remaining group 1 results from Americas and Europe. Like of Argentina and Czech Republic will be seeds and possible opponents of they win their zonal matches.

Czech Republic beats Israel and gets into play offs. So, put them in and take out lowest ranked Hungary as possible opponents. That will be an away match and won't be easy.

Results of other Europe-Africa Zone group 1 matches will not affect the seeds.

But, if Argentina beats Chile ( tied 1-1 after day 1), they will get into equation and replace second lowest ranked among above, Japan.

[Saniapower]

This new format of Davis Cup is very good. Appreciate it.

[S_K_S]

Does the play-off use the new format or the world group format? Only team we have a chance against in that list is Hungary.

[jai_in_canada]

Can't help but think that it was Leander who turned this tie around with his passion, grit and glory. His competitive fires still burn so bright that the other players have to be dead to not be inspired by it. He's more than just a great doubles player who almost single-handed guarantees the doubles point. He brings an X-factor to the team that no one else on the Indian team brings, and which makes the rest of the team better. He's just unique. And it's awe-inspiring to see that at his age and after all these years of competing he still cares so deeply about doing well - especially when it is for country. He's the true leader. A Jedi Master who's got the force and makes the others more forceful.

[Prashant]

Does the play-off use the new format or the world group format? Only team we have a chance against in that list is Hungary.

I believe WG playoffs & ties still use the old format, but with a 5 person team instead of 4. I.e. you can have 3 singles players & a doubles pair, but you still play over three days. That was the original proposal anyway.