India beats Switzerland 3-1 – The Hindu

Sumit Nagal sealed the issue for India as he beat the 18-year-old Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3 in the fourth rubber for a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the Davis Cup World Group-1 tennis tie in Biel on Saturday.

Nagal had closed the first day for India at 2-0 by winning his singles after Dhakshineswar Suresh had given a dream start by beating the Swiss No.1 Jerome Kym in straight sets. The 28-year-old was pleased to ensure victory for the team.

India had lost the tough doubles match as the Swiss pair of Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker beat Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli in a gripping contest 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5.

That made it lively for the fans in the indoor arena. The Swiss replaced their No.1 Jerome with the young lad who had won the Australian Open junior singles title this year. However, by the time the youngster settled to play his fluent game, hitting single-handed backhands with a flourish, and running like a rabbit all over the court, Nagal had tightened his grip on the match.

“It has been a while for us to win in Europe. We all pushed each other a lot in the team. We are happy with the win. The doubles was tough. The level was very high. I was sweating more, watching the match from the sidelines. When I had to play the young guy, I knew he was good. Young ones are always tricky as you don’t know how they play. I was happy with the way I played the match,” said Nagal, quite delighted to have won two of the three points for India, on the indoor hard courts.

It was a masterstroke by the captain Rohit Rajpal and the team to have brought in reserve player Dhakshineswar Suresh to play on the first day. Once Dhakshineswar asserted his big game, India had the better chance against the host, especially with Nagal playing close to his best.

The Indian pair could have won the doubles but at 4-4 in the second set, after having won the first, Balaji and Bollipalli failed to convert three breakpoints in the ninth game on Paul’s serve.

Quite significantly, debutant Bollipalli dropped serve at love in the tenth game.

In the decider, the Indian pair went up 3-1 but Sriram Balaji’s serve got broken in the sixth game. Serving to stay in the match at 5-6, Bollipalli dropped serve at love, to give what proved to be a face saving point for the Swiss, on their home soil.

As captain Rajpal had observed beforehand, it was a 50-50 match for India in both singles and doubles. The Indian team did well to win in style by clinching three singles points in an away tie in Europe, against such a strong opponent like Switzerland.

The results: India bt Switzerland 3-1 (Sriram Balaji & Rithvik Bollipalli lost to Jakub Paul & Dominik Stricker 7-6(3), 4-6, 5-7; Sumit Nagal bt Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3).