Islamabad: Indian Davis Cup team capped their historic visit to Pakistan after 60 years by sealing their place in World Group I by beating Pakistan 4-0 with Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni registering a comfortable victory and Niki Poonacha making winning debut, here on Sunday.
Taking the court with a 2-0 lead in their pocket, Bhambri and Myneni overpowered the home duo of Muzammil Murtaza and Aqeel Khan 6-2, 7-6 (5) in doubles to extend India’s dominance on the Pakistan in the tournament.
Poonacha, 28, was then invited to play the fourth match against Muhammad Shoaib, whom he beat 6-3, 6-4. The fifth game was not played.
Earlier, Aqeel replaced Barkat Ullah in doubles. The idea was to have an experienced player for the do or die match.
However, big serving Bhambri and Myneni made no mistake in the match in which they were not much troubled by their rivals. The gap in quality between the two teams was evident.
Myneni’s big serves were too hot for the home team to handle. Myneni hardly lost a point on her serve and was also superb at the net.
The returns from the Indian players were also better as Bhambri sent winners between the two Pakistani players several times.
It was India’s eighth victory against Pakistan in as many meetings in the event, called the Tennis World Cup, and they will now participate in World Group I in September this year while Pakistan remain in the Group II.
The Indian team adapted well to the difficult conditions and heavy security around them, not letting the movement restrictions have a negative impact on them.
The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) did well in creating a safety net around the players, with several agencies working in tandem to ensure that the match took place without any untoward incident.
Bhambri and Myneni had a strong hold on the contest from the start. They beat Aqeel in the first and fifth games to take a 4-1 lead. In the first game, Aqeel hit a backhand long and wide to lose two breakpoints.
As Myneni struck wide first, he found an easy, winning volley off Aqeel’s weak return.
The Pakistani prop dropped his serve again in the fifth game, his overhead flat smash flying over the baseline at 30 and Bhambri sent a crushing forehand winner between the two players to close out the match.
Murtaza lost three set points in the seventh game, but saved it all as both players finally found rhythm.
Bhambri came out to serve the set and did so with ease as Murtaza couldn’t return a serve wide from the Indian on the first set point.
Aqeel finally started to hold his serve. The second set was 5-5 on serve. Between the two, Murtaza saved three breakpoints in the fifth game. It came down to the tiebreaker in which a few errors from the Indians allowed the Pakistanis to take a 4-2 lead.
However, Bhambri and Myneni assured that there was no twist in the story. They quickly made it 5-5 as Aqeel and Murtaza lacked coordination.
Aqeel double-faulted on match point to give India the tie.
