India Davis Cup -2025

[sameerph]

Sumit has to get back close to his best form for us to have a chance of winning this. If the courts are really fast, RamK may have a chance too in second singles to pull out a win at least against 1 of the 2 Swiss players.

Lets hope for the best.

[arjun2761]

We might have had a chance in India. In Switzerland, we will struggle to win a set in the singles matches. Probably around a 50% chance of winning the doubles.

[rajitghosh]

I don't think Sumit would play if Rohit Rajpal remains captain. He'll give some reason and pull out.

[jayakris]

Heck, maybe they will play the usual AITA game of making the complaining folks part of their "happy family"... Make Purav or Somdev the Davis Cup captain. Force them to compromise so that the court case goes away, and everybody goes Kumbaya?

But to be frank, it may not be bad idea now, if they play their tried and tested game! Rohit Rajpal as president, Mr. X (a good name, from what I have heard) as GenSec, and Somdev and Purav as captain and coach. It may actually be a good thing if Rohit Rajpal can get that done.

[Sabha124639W]

I don't think Sumit would play if Rohit Rajpal remains captain. He'll give some reason and pull out.

He would play because you know if Sumit doesn't play this tie, I think he won't be eligible to play LA 2028 Olympics!!

[PKBasu]

Tough for us to do much against Switzerland in an away tie. But wouldn't it be nice if Stan the Man made himself available and gave us a backhand clinic to watch on TV?

[arjun2761]

I don't think Sumit would play if Rohit Rajpal remains captain. He'll give some reason and pull out.

He would play because you know if Sumit doesn't play this tie, I think he won't be eligible to play LA 2028 Olympics!!

On the other hand, he was one of the last to qualify for the Paris Olympic. So, perhaps that isn't top of mind for him right now.

In any case, I don't think the above is accurate, as you need to play only 2 Davis Cup ties in the 4 year cycle , so there are plenty more Davis Cup ties to be played by 2028. At least that was the standard for the 2024 Olympics, so apologies if you are aware of a changed standard for 2028.

[jayakris]

^^^ I think you are right. Even otherwise, not playing Davis Cup was not a strict criterion even in Paris, if I am not mistaken. I think it came into effect only if the country's federation were to bring it up. ITF was giving a bit of a stick to the federations to wield if needed. There was also wiggle room like injury or other extenuating circumstances, not to mention not being picked for the DC team. The latter issue was important for countries like Australia with too many qualified Olympics players including one who had not been picked for their DC teams for their own DC calculations (captain Hewitt ran into some questioning on that matter, iirc). So I believe the federations could explain things away, making excuses for the player, if they wanted. If the Federations wanted to exclude a player with the reason of the player's not making himself available for DC, it was even easier and ITF would go with the federation. That was my understanding.

So, the DC matter is not a serious consideration for Sumit. AITA is not going to try to keep him away from Olympics if he qualifies for LA 2008 (a big IF... I don't think at this point that he will be ranked in top-80 after 3 years, to qualify).

[ericcw]

.. I don't think at this point that he will be ranked in top-80 after 3 years, to qualify

This is so sad. Hope you are not serious?

[PKBasu]

His form has been dismal since July last year. We were hoping for redemption during the LatAm clay swing, but that didn't happen either. So things are looking bleak at the moment, with a lot of points to defend between now and June.

[jayakris]

.. I don't think at this point that he will be ranked in top-80 after 3 years, to qualify

This is so sad. Hope you are not serious?

I know; I am sad too. But his poor form shows no sign of improving and age is not on his side either. The good thing is that he does seem to be playing with a top-175 type form and has not fallen to a much worse level like RamK did at around this age. The bad thing is that he is the type of player who needs to have his game working at a perfect level (like last year at this time) to go back to top-100. Meaning, he is not a "big tools" player, so he needs to be physically at a perfect level with his court quickness and shot accuracy, to win against top-75 players, which is needed to make a top-80. But then there is the sobering thought that he is turning 28 this year in August, and "staying perfect" becomes tougher at that age. Too optimistic to hope that he will get back to top-80 by age 31. But it is not totally impossible either, so let us keep hope.

As of now, our best hope is that DKS, Manas, Aryan or even Karan can become a top-100 player in three years of time.

[Sabha124639W]

I don't think Sumit would play if Rohit Rajpal remains captain. He'll give some reason and pull out.

He would play because you know if Sumit doesn't play this tie, I think he won't be eligible to play LA 2028 Olympics!!

On the other hand, he was one of the last to qualify for the Paris Olympic. So, perhaps that isn't top of mind for him right now.

In any case, I don't think the above is accurate, as you need to play only 2 Davis Cup ties in the 4 year cycle , so there are plenty more Davis Cup ties to be played by 2028. At least that was the standard for the 2024 Olympics, so apologies if you are aware of a changed standard for 2028.

He needs to play this DC tie because this is the best chance for India to get into DC Qualifiers!! There is no reason at all that he would withdraw/refuse to play

[arjun2761]

^^^^Agree that he should play the Davis Cup and his playing will improve our chances at least a little.

However, his playing this Davis Cup tie has no impact on whether he can play the LA Olympics.