New Delhi– After registering two wins against Denmark in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff 1 tie, India’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal said that the players executed the team’s plan very well today.
“We are very happy that we executed our plan. I am extremely happy with the way Yuki (Bhambri) and Ramkumar (Ramanathan) played today. Ram was obviously quite sharp in the first match as you saw. It’s good to see a lot of good serve and volley from him,” Rajpal said in a post-match press conference.
In the first set Bhambri, ranked World No. 590, displayed some wonderful groundstrokes early on, while the 305th-ranked Mikael Torpegaard took little time to acclimatise to the pace and bounce of the courts.
Bhambri started the match with the opening serve and both players held onto their serve till 4-4 in the first set. However, things changed when Torpegaard could not hold onto his serve in the ninth game.
“Yuki’s first set was tight, but he did really well in the second set. It was a class effort from him. That is a sign of a top-class player. I am extremely happy that both the players take pressure off from the doubles,” said Rajpal.
Bhambri said that the match was always in his control after he took the first set. Asked about using the ‘slice and touch’ frequently during the match, Bhambri said, “I think, for Ram, it comes naturally, for me it was my strategy. I realize that the court is playing low, and I like traditional baseline playing, but here I have to change my game. It was very difficult to play on a low bounce surface.”
Despite suffering two defeats, Denmark captain Frederik Nielsen is hoping for the best in the doubles and reverse singles matches tomorrow. However, he lavished praise on the Indian duo for their remarkable wins.
“Very much respect for the Indians who played well today. Yuki particularly played brilliantly. The way he was attacking the net, it was really good. He made a lot of points from this,” he said.
“We need three points. That’s the focus. We will see what can be done in the next matches. Obviously, we will try to start the day with good doubles. And then we will see what can be done in the next singles,” he said.
Torpegaard too lauded his opponent, saying Bhambri made a wonderful adjustment during the match.
“It’s tough to play the match, especially on this turf. To be honest, I think I ran out of time. He played really well today. Being a baseline player, he made wonderful adjustments during the match and that helps him. It’s very different game here. I really appreciate his skills on grasscourt. He played a proper grasscourt game,” he said.(IANS)
