New Delhi: Even before a point has been played India Davis Cup non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi has started singing excuses for the match against Canada. The former doubles exponent has called the present Canadian squad stronger that the Czech Republic side India faced in the World Group play-off in 2015.
The Indian team, which had a week-long training camp in New York before reaching Edmonton, is set to make a fourth consecutive attempt to qualify for the elite World Group after having lost to Serbia (2014), Czech Republic (2015) and Rafael Nadal-led Spain (2016).
Canada have named World No.51 Denis Shapovalov, who reached the US Open fourth round, Vasek Pospisil (82) along with seasoned Daniel Nestor (43 in doubles) and Brayden Schnur (202) for the play-off tie, starting Friday. However, Milos Raonic has opted out of the tie because of injury.
“Canada are a quality team but of course we are here because we earned the chance to play them. I personally think they are a stronger team than the Czechs when they came to India,” Bhupathi told this agency from Edmonton.
The Czechs had travelled to India with Jiri Vesely (then World No.40 and now 59) and Lukas Rosol (then ranked 85) as the main singles players. In doubles Radek Stepanek had teamed up with Adam Pavlasek.
Bhupathi said going to the University of Columbia in New York for the camp has helped the team prepare better for the indoor tie.
“The week of practice indoors has helped the team. The boys have hit a lot of balls and are feeling good, so we are looking forward to the weekend,” Bhupathi informed.
Bhupathi said the recent successes of both Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanthan against high-quality rivals have been a tremendous confidence-booster for the team.
While Yuki had scalped World No.22 Gael Monfils at the Citi Open, Ramkumar had an upset win over top 10 player Dominic Thiem at the Antalya Open.
“Wins give you confidence and big wins give you lots of confidence. I am sure it’s a stepping stone in their process to make the top 100,” Bhupathi said.
“Both Yuki and Ram have had very good summers so they have a lot of matches under their belt. Rohan, of course, made the final in Montreal and is a leader in this team. Saketh is getting better every week, it’s always hard to come back from a long injury lay-off but he is committed,” Bhupathi stated while giving his assessment of the team.
Bhupathi said the players are working very hard and will enjoy more success in the days to come on the ATP circuit. “They (Yuki and Ram) are heading in the right direction,” said Bhupathi.
Press Trust of India
