Davis Cup 2023: Rohan Bopanna in squad for Group 1 playoff against Denmark
Dec 25, 2022
Hillerod [Denmark], December 25 : Indian tennis veteran Rohan Bopanna is in the national squad for the upcoming Davis Cup 2023 World Group 1 playoffs tie against Denmark, from February 3 to 4 at Royal Stage Stadium in Denmark's Hillerod.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) made the announcement on Saturday. Mukund Sasikumar, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri are also the part of the team.
Former Indian number 1 Sumit Nagal is the reserve player, while former player Rohit Rajpal will continue as the non-playing captain. Rajpal, who represented the country in the prestigious tournament in the previous years, has been the non-playing skipper since 2019 Davis Cup tie against Pakistan. Zeeshan Ali will be the team's coach.
A Davis Cup tie has a total of five matches -- four singles and doubles. Rohan, a doubles specialist, is a certainty in this category. However, a call remains to be taken on his partner.
Mukund, who is at No. 340 as per the latest ATP Singles rankings, is the top-ranked India player, followed by Prajnesh Gunneswaran at No. 348. Ramkumar Ramanathan is ranked 433th while Yuki Bhambri is at the 551th position. Sumit Nagal is at the 502nd place.
India has a 2-1 head-to-head record against Denmark at the Davis Cup. India lost its first-ever meeting with Denmark way back in 1927, but turned the tables on the latter, winning 3-2.
Last year, the two teams met for the third time, with India progressing to Group 1 after registering a clean-sweep, winning all four matches.
In Group 1, however, India lost to Norway.
Emerging Danish tennis superstar Holger Rune (19) is currently ranked No. 11 in singles and will be the player to watch out for against India.
India finished runners-up in the Davis Cup in 1966, 1974 and 1987, which were the country's best performances in the tournament.
