16 September,2023 08:06 AM IST | Lucknow | PTI
Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Yogi Adityanath (centre) along with the captains and players of India and Morocco during the Davis Cup World Group II tie draw ceremony in Lucknow yesterday
Hauling itself up from World Group II should not be a complicated task for India when it takes on an unostentatious Morocco in the home tie, which will be more of a celebration of Rohan Bopanna's Davis Cup career, which will come to a halt after 21 years on Sunday.
The lack of singles players who could challenge the big boys of the ATP circuit, coupled with defeats in winnable matches, has hurt the Indian Davis Cup team badly in the last few years in this team tournament, but relegation to World Group II was a new low the Indian team hit in February.
It was for the first time since the new format was launched in 2019 that the Indians dropped to this level. Much has changed since India last played in the Davis Cup tie in March, when it lost 2-3 to Denmark. Indian tennis has hardly had any memorable moments this season until Bopanna reached the US Open final last week.
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It's not just the lack of on-court results in singles; off-court, the country also felt the disappointment of losing its only ATP 250 event. Yuki Bhambri, one of the finest players India has seen, has stopped playing the singles format. Ramkumar Ramanathan has dropped out of even the Top 550 and is languishing at No. 570.
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Meanwhile, Davis Cup has become just another tournament for the current generation of players and love of playing the World Cup of Tennis can't be seen these days, says Bopanna. "It has become too mechanical to just come, play and leave," he said.
Draw
Saturday: Sasikumar Mukund v Yassine Dlimi; Sumit Nagal v Adam Moundir
Sunday: Rohan Bopanna/Yuki Bhambri v Elliot Benchitri/Younes Lalami Laaroussi; Sumit Nagal v Yassine Dlimi; Sasikumar Mukund v Adam Moundir
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