India check in early for feel of grass ahead of Cup service

CHENNAI: Considering the players would be coming off hard courts, India’s Davis Cup team management wanted something longer than a traditional four-day camp before the start of a tie. So they decided that the players — provided they had all lost at the Australian Open by then — would report for duty in Kolkata on Wednesday, a full nine days before the match against Italy at the South Club. Players generally come to the venue on Sunday before beginning training on Monday, four days before the tie.

Skipper Mahesh Bhupathi and coach Zeeshan Ali wanted to tweak India’s schedule slightly to give the hosts every chance of advancing to the inaugural Finals week. The squad assembled early also to acclimatise to the grass in Kolkata. It might sound strange but that’s exactly what Ali told this newspaper. “We began our training yesterday (Wednesday) at the Calcutta Gymkhana Club,” he said.

“We won’t be going to South Club till Monday but getting used to the Kolkata grass was one reason why we decided to come early. It’s different to the grass you get elsewhere, especially at the likes of Wimbledon. The idea of practising for a few more days is to get adjusted to the bounce, movement and so on. On hard courts, it is not that big a difference but it’s a world of difference on grass.”

That’s apparently because the grass in that part of the country tends to be a bit quicker and also, it doesn’t bounce as high as a traditional surface. This aspect of the grass, Ali said, was even going to be a challenge for the hosts to get used to. “It’s good because all the players have come when they were supposed to come.”

Their opponents, even without World No 13 Fabio Fognini, still possess three players inside the top 60 (India’s best, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, is just outside the top 100), but Ali reckons the hosts stand a chance. “We have the belief (to beat Italy),” he said. That belief stems from the fact that Davis Cup affairs are no longer gruelling best-of-five affairs. “It makes a huge difference,” Ali, a former Davis Cupper, said. “Against these top teams, a best of three is better than a five because their players are well used to playing the latter at Grand Slams.”

Bhupathi went a bit further to say the tie represented the hosts’ best chance of advancing to the next stage. “Playing at home makes a world of difference,” he said. “This is a good opportunity for us.” But he was quick to add that the World No 19 would begin the tie ‘heavy underdogs. “I don’t think Fognini’s absence matters. We continue to be heavy underdogs.”

However, underdogs can sometimes produce a venomous bite. That’s what Bhupathi and Ali will be hoping when the tie begins from next Friday.