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Nadal to lead Spanish Davis team against India

Posted in Sports

Published on September 09, 2016 with No Comments

“Players not consulted on floodlights decision,” Amritraj

The decision to host the Davis Cup tie against Spain under floodlights was taken without consulting the players, Indian Davis Cup captain Anand Amritraj has said. India will play Spain in the World Group play-off tie next weekend with singles and doubles rubber scheduled for 5pm and 7pm starts, respectively. “Neither the players nor I was asked before such a crucial decision was taken,” Amritaj told a daily from India. “We already don’t have a surface of our choice. The least we could have had was at least the heat going in our favour.” But the All India Tennis Association (AITA), for its part, was prompt to suggest that the heat could prove to be a double-edged sword. “We saw what the heat did to our players in Chandigarh in the previous tie,” a senior AITA official said. “So let’s not remain under the illusion that the heat works to our advantage. The idea behind holding evening matches was to bring in crowds.”

Spain has announced their Davis Cup team for the World Group play-off against India, from September 16-18, and heading the list is none other than multiple Grand Slam champion and World No 5 Rafael Nadal.
The arrival of former World No 1 and 14 Grand Slam winner certainly promises to pack stadium t but only adds to the challenge of the Indian team.  Nadal has a 26-5 record in Davis Cup and had played in the Group-1 competition against Denmark last year.
Joining Nadal would experienced campaigner and World No 13 David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez with singles ranking of 18 and doubles ranking of 21 and doubles player Marc Lopez with the ranking of 19. “Nadal’s arrival was expected following his loss in the US Open. It always supposed to be a tough tie for India but then our players can play free as they have nothing to lose,”  India’s coach Zeeshan Ali is reported to have said.
Statistically, Spain lead India 2-1 in head to head record, in matches played from 1922 to 1965. The only win of India dates back to 1927 when they won 3-2 on clay in Barcelona. India had lost 4-1 to Spain on grass in Bristol, England, in the World Group quarterfinals in 1922. Spain won 3-2 in Barcelona on clay when the two teams met the last time in 1965. It thus would be the first home tie for India against Spain. India are  without their seasoned singles players — Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri, with the duo nursing injuries. In place of them, 143rd ranked Saketh Myneni will be the top singles player for India and young Ramkumar Ramanthan, ranked 202, the second singles player. Veterans Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will shoulder the responsibility of doubles on the slow hard court in the tie, which would be played under floodlights.

 

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