Davis Cup: Sweden go 2-0 up versus India on Day 1

Mumbai: India dug themselves a massive hole on the opening day of their Davis Cup World Group I tie against Sweden, going down 2-0 after N Sriram Balaji and Ramkumar Ramanathan lost their singles rubbers in Stockholm on Saturday.

Balaji, a doubles specialist, was swept away by the hosts’ top-ranked Elias Ymer 6-4, 6-2 in the opening rubber before the more surprising result hit the visitors and dampened their plans for the tie. Leo Borg, the legendary Bjorn Borg’s son currently ranked 603 in the world, sank Ramkumar, over 250 spots above him, 6-3, 6-4. The tie is being played on indoor hard court.

A 1-1 scoreline may have been par for the course, but now India stare at a mountain on the second day featuring doubles and reverse singles. Combinations and lineups most likely will change for the inexperienced Indian squad with Balaji and Ramkumar also named for the doubles tie.

Captain Rohit Rajpal’s tactical call to field Balaji in singles backfired as the 238th-ranked Ymer had little trouble in getting past him and putting the hosts in the lead. The captain punted on Balaji’s big serves to do some damage, but the top-ranked Swede broke the Indian in the opening games of both sets.

That result perhaps went along expected lines but not the next. Ramkumar, currently ranked 332 in singles who was once on the verge of the top 100, was up against 21-year-old Borg, who largely plies on the Futures circuit. It was, however, the son of the former world No.1 who was dictating play, especially from the baseline.

With the home crowd behind him, Borg silenced Ramkumar’s game, which relies heavily on the serve and the touch rushing towards the net. The Indian was broken to love in the sixth game of the first set, and although he had a chance to break back in the next, Borg held on. He did so again in the second set after breaking Ramkumar in the seventh game to close out the set, match and a handy lead for the hosts.