The Indian team’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi along with players on the eve of the Davis Cup tie against Italy which begins on Friday in Kolkata. (PTI)The Italians sprang a surprise at the draw on the eve of the Davis Cup tie against India, to be played on the grass courts of the Calcutta South Club. Matteo Berrettini was picked ahead of Marco Cecchinato to play the singles. At No.19 in the ATP Tour, Cecchinato is the top-ranked player in the Italian squad. Berrettini is behind at No.53. Also, the 22-year-old will make his Davis Cup debut.
Italy’s non-playing captain Corrado Barazzutti didn’t elaborate on the decision to throw a relatively inexperienced player in at the deep end. “I thought that’s the best decision in this case,” he said.
Berrettini will play the second singles against Prajnesh Gunneswaran on Friday and the second reverse singles (if required) against Ramkumar Ramanathan on Saturday. The latter, meanwhile, will play the first singles against Andreas Seppi. Italy have selected Cecchinato to play the doubles alongside Simone Bolelli. India will go with Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan in the doubles.
Coming back to the Italians’ apparent disinclination to play on grass, Seppi spoke about his team being a little undercooked and that the South Club court could create problems. “We just had a couple of days of practice. The courts are not like Wimbledon. It’s different grass for sure and it’s not so perfect. Anyway, we have to play here and we will try our best.” Seppi said.
Davis Cup is the only tennis tournament that offers home advantage, very much like cricket. Its format change, masterminded by a footballer, Gerard Pique, has offset the advantage for the finals in Madrid in November.
For the present, though, India very much bank on the ‘green, green grass of home’ to pull off an upset. It’s not the erstwhile South Club centre court where this tie would be played. Restructuring saw the Club replace six of its grass courts with six synthetic surfaces. So, a different patch of turf has been manicured and according to India’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi, it’s better than the old one.
The top-ranked player in Italian team, Marco Cecchinato, during a training session on Thursday. Cecchinato, though, will only play the doubles. (PTI)“I think this centre court is playing better than the forecourt we used to play on. My boys after hitting on the centre for the first time yesterday said the ball was bouncing through nicely. It’s not ideal for us because that’s the reason we come to Calcutta. But hopefully over the next few days of wear and tear you know it will change. But yeah, I think great job and we are very happy with the court and roll,” Bhupathi said.
Modern-day tennis is dominated more by the hard court and clay surfaces. Even the Indians, who have been natural on grass, have opted to host a tie on the green lawn just once – in 12 home ties – in the past 10 years.
In Ramkumar and Prajnesh however, the Indians do have two singles specialists who have produced results on grass.In 2017, Ramkumar pulled off an upset win over World No.8 Dominic Thiem on grass at an ATP event in Turkey, and a year later became the first Indian since Somdev Devvarman in 2011 to reach the final of a tour event on the grass courts of Newport.Prajnesh in turn, upset World No. 25, Canadian teenage sensation Denis Shapovalov on grass at the Stuttgart ATP. The Italians, meanwhile, are bred on clay. They fear the grass court’s uneven bounce.
A lot will depend on the first singles. Early advantage gives a psychological edge. And Ramanathan wants to take the attack to the opposition.
At 133 in the ATP rankings, the 24-year-old is way behind Seppi, ranked 37th. Still, Ramanathan exuded confidence. “It’s going to be difficult but you know playing at home with the home crowd and playing on grass is of course an advantage for us. I’m going to stay aggressive and hopefully our team wins.”
After the press conference today, former player Naresh Kumar gave a pep talk to the Indian team. “All I want to say is that I’m very happy that the team is together. That’s more important than playing well. That’s the only way to win. Get together and no more fights. You have a good leader. He has got good experience. You guys have the talent. You guys have to really go for it this time and I’m wishing you all the best,” said the former India Davis Cup captain.
Bopanna, who has played under different captains in the Davis Cup, too, held Bhupathi’s leadership skills in high regard. “A lot more communication with the players, not only just during the Davis Cup tie but throughout the entire year. That makes a big difference. Like Divij mentioned, even though you don’t meet him (Bhupathi) so often, but the communication helps develop camaraderie when you come into a Davis Cup tie.”
All said and done, on their preferred surface India would be under pressure to perform. Not many months ago they had lost 4-0 to Serbia. Losing to Italy here will take them back to the zonal group.
Change, a unanimous decision
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) picked a footballer’s brain to usher in format changes to a 119-year-old event. Australia captain Lleyton Hewitt described it as “ridiculous”. “Now we are getting run by a Spanish football player, which is like me coming out and asking to change things for the Champions League. It’s ridiculous,” the former Wimbledon and US Open champion had said in Adelaide.
Bhupathi, though, begged to differ. “When someone takes a proposal the people who are voting on the proposal are all educated people and they know everything about tennis. The proposal (was) voted on by the ITF board and unanimously passed, which means (the) ITF governing body is the one who changed the format because they feel that it’s better for tennis,” he said.
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