CHENNAI: When it became clear that India would face Croatia in the Davis Cup playoffs, there was an assumption that the former would be blanked. Not without reason. The 2018 champions had in their ranks Marin Cilic, Borna Coric and seasoned doubles exponents Mate Pavic and Ivan Dodig. Three months later and that feeling of Croatia being unquestionable favourites has changed slightly thanks to significant injuries picked up by the hosts.
Coric, World No 33 and their best player in terms of rankings, picked up an arm injury last month and was forced to withdraw. To compound matters, Dodig, a multiple time Grand Slam winner, pulled out after sustaining a wrist injury earlier this week. Without these two proven match-winners, India, according to coach Zeeshan Ali, can pull off an upset. “Because of the injuries, I would say there is more of an even feeling to this contest,” he told this daily from Zagreb.
One look at the Croatia roster tells you why Ali is echoing those thoughts. Coric’s replacement is Borna Gojo, a 21-year-old who has only played two Davis Cup ties. His singles ranking (World No 277) is ordinary and both Prajnesh Gunneswaran (World No 132) and Ramkumar Ramanathan (182) will fancy their chances of winning two points against him across two days. Even though Franko Skugor (doubles World No 32) is an able replacement for Dodig (doubles World No 10), the latter has an understanding with Pavic considering they had been partners on the World Tour previously.
It’s for these reasons why Ali and the team management believe India can win. “Why not,” Ali asked. “The players know what they are capable of, we have had some good training sessions and we are well prepared.” The indoor hard courts at the Dom Sportovva Stadium is to India’s liking, according to the former Davis Cupper. “Even though our players haven’t got much experience of playing in indoor hard court, this is different. The bounce is low and it has a wooden base. Our players have enjoyed playing on it. With the bounce being as it is, the likes of Leander will thrive,” Ali said.
The nature of the court is why India decided to go in with this combination, ignoring their best player in terms of rankings (Sumit Nagal, World No 127). “Yeah, we took that decision after the last one week. The ball is keeping quite low and it’s moving. So Ali and me decided this was the best players to go in with, given the situation,” captain Rohit Rajpal said. “All the players accepted the decision.” Ramanathan said he was ready to go. “We are underdogs but we have a chance.” That’s the one singular narrative that the Indian contingent has been on for the last two days. Will it reflect on the two match days? Time will tell.
Friday fixtures
Prajnesh Gunneswaran vs Borna Gojo, Ramkumar Ramanathan vs Marin Cilic. Saturday: Leander Paes/Rohan Bopanna vs Mate Pavic/Franko Skugor, Gunneswaran vs Cilic, Ramanathan vs Gojo.