MUMBAI: Chennai’s Ramkumar Ramanathan finally shed the special invitee tag as he was named reserve in India’s Davis Cup squad for the World Group playoff against Serbia along with city-mate Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan. The selection committee, which met in New Delhi on Wednesday, decided to go with the team which beat South Korea in April this year.
Leading the proceedings in singles for the September 12-14 tie will be Somdev Devvarman with Yuki Bhambri, who missed the tie in Korea due to injury. In the absence of Leander Paes, Rohan Bopannna and Saketh Myneni will pair up for the third consecutive time in Bangalore. The duo are yet to be beaten.
TNIE was the first to report that Paes would skip the Davis Cup tie as he is fighting for the custody of his daughter with estranged partner Rhea Pillai. Paes opted out as the dates of the hearing might clash with the tie. Sanam Singh, who replaced Yuki in the previous squad, has been invited to practise alongside the team.
Chairman of the selection panel, Anil Dhupar, reposed faith in the young squad. “We will definitely miss Leander but he made himself unavailable citing personal reasons. Mahesh (Bhupathi) was not considered as he has not played for over six months. We have chosen the best possible squad and I am sure they will do well,” he said.
Apparently, there were suggestions of including Bhupathi in order to give him a farewell tie. But with the veteran not having played competitive tennis for quite some time, this idea had to be shelved, considering the intensity of the clash.
On Yuki making a comeback, Dhupar added, “It is a huge boost to the team that Yuki is back. We are not worried as he has been in good stead and recently made the final in an ITF tournament in USA.” Yuki lost to American Mitchell Frank in final in Illinois.
National coach Zeeshan Ali said Yuki’s return would help the team. “I am happy with the composition. Yuki returning to the squad is a good sign. Saketh has been doing well and it didn’t come as a surprise when he was chosen with Rohan. Yes, the equations would have changed had Paes been there as he brings a lot of experience. But this team has done well in the past and I am confident they will fare well against Serbia. Sanam will also be there to get some match practice ahead of the Asian Games,” he said.
Ramkumar was delighted to be named reserve and said he did not see this coming. “It will definitely be a great experience. I didn’t expect this but felt I was getting closer,” he said.