Italy’s World No.35 Andreas Seppi beat No. 133 Ramkumar Ramanathan ( in pic) of India 6-4 6-2. (Express photo by Partha Paul)Ramkumar Ramanathan had his moment. He failed to seize it and the tie started looking lopsided. At 4-3, on serve, in the first set of the first rubber against Italy, Ramanathan had a break point. Andreas Seppi’s first serve was a fault and the Italian wasn’t hitting his second serves well.
Facing break point, Seppi’s second serve once again wasn’t deep enough. The ball kicked up but Ramanathan had enough time to go for a cross-court backhand winner. The Indian, though, looked a little uncertain – caught between attacking the ball and playing a safe shot. His half-hearted backhand went long.
As it turned out, it was a huge point in the context of the tie. A break there and Ramanathan – he started well – would have been serving for the first set. As it turned out, Seppi came roaring back. He held serve and then changed his strategy to thwart Ramanathan’s net play.
Seppi broke in the next game, two gorgeous forehands doing the trick. Ramanathan contributed to his own problems with back-to-back double faults as the Italian went on to win the first set 6-4.
The new, best-of-three-sets format in the Davis Cup meant Ramanathan had to win the second to stay alive. But Seppi had already started to put more effort into his first serves so that he could play his natural baseline game. It forced Ramanathan on the back foot, and the Indian didn’t have a Plan B. The 133rd-ranked player on the ATP Tour surrendered to the World No. 37. The Italians won the first singles match 6-4, 6-2 in just 71 minutes for a 1-0 lead. Seppi had 23 winners against Ramanathan’s 10. The latter also made six double faults.
At 12.40 pm, Prajnesh Gunneswaran took to the court for the second singles, against a debutant. On match eve, while choosing Matteo Berrettini over the higher-ranked Marco Cecchinato, Italy’s non-playing captain Corrado Barazzutti had said: “I thought that’s the best decision in this case.”
It proved to be a wonderful decision. Berrettini steamrolled India’s best bet in just under an hour. The scoreline read 6-4, 6-3, but it didn’t tell the whole story. Berrettini, with very little experience of playing on grass, schooled Gunneswaran. He broke the Indian in the very first game of the match. Two big forehands helped the 22-year-old take the early advantage. He built on it, remaining consistent on his serve. In the second set, Berrettini broke Gunneswaran in the opening game once again. A volley at the net would have made even a seasoned grass-courter proud.
The most breathtaking piece of play, however, came in the fifth game. Gunneswaran volleyed to Berrettini’s backhand corner. The latter, on the dead run, whipped a down-the-line backhand winner. Class oozed.
Last year, Berrettini did the double at the Swiss Open. After the match on Friday, he spoke about how his life has not been the same since. “A lot of things have changed. Things are starting to fall in place. I think I did a great week there. I realised I could play at that level. After that I won (at St. Petersburg) with Fabio (Fognini). I like to play tennis. It’s a dream coming true.” The youngster looked the real deal.
That Berrettini won 86 per cent of points on his second serve against Gunneswaran attested his all-round ability. He hit 20 winners – 16 from the forehand wing – compared to the Indian’s five. At times, his first serve touched 224 kph. He hit six aces, while Gunneswaran had none.
After the first day’s play, India’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi rued the missed opportunity in the first rubber. “We had half a chance early there in the first set of the first match and we didn’t take it. When you are playing players who have so much experience and are used to playing at a level, you have to take your chances. We didn’t at 3-4, 30-40. I’m a firm believer that if you take your chances, you will get rewarded. That’s where the momentum swung.”
Even Seppi admitted that going a break down could have tilted the balance in India’s favour. “It was an important point. It was my second serve. Ram missed a backhand; it was an easy shot and he missed it. If he could have broken me, he could have won the first set. It was good to break him the game after and serve for the set. After two-three games, I started playing better and that was an important point of the match,” said the Italian.
Last April, India had rallied from 0-2 down against China in Tianjin to win the tie 3-2. Leander Paes led the fightback in doubles, but the AITA selection committee dropped him for this tie citing his falling ATP rankings. Also, Italy are a different kettle of fish. The gulf in class was evident in the first two rubbers. On the precipice, India now need a miracle to haul themselves back.
