Mahesh Bhupathi confident of comeback despite India 0-2 down against It

India lost both their singles matches to go 0-2 down on Day One of the Davis Cup tie against Italy yesterday. Andreas Seppi beat Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-2 in the first match of the day that lasted 71 minutes, while Matteo Berrettini took just 57 minutes to blow away the left-handed challenge of India’s No. 1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran. The Azzurri are now just one win away from sealing a berth in the Davis Cup final round in Madrid this November.

India’s non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi is, however, hopeful of a comeback. “We are disappointed, but we are not going to rule ourselves out. We know the job at hand. Strange things have happened in the past. We have made a comeback, though only twice, from 0-2 down — against Brazil and China — and the Italians are much better than China. We have to focus on the doubles to turn the tables,” he said.

Bhupathi rued the hosts’ failure to take their chances in the first singles match. “We had half-a-chance in the first set, but we didn’t take it. We were 3-4, 30-40 up. The momentum swung [in their favour] from there onwards,” said Bhupathi.