Kolkata: India may have lived up to their reputation in doubles but that was not enough as Italy secured a 3-1 triumph after winning the first reverse singles Saturday to storm into the first-ever Davis Cup World Finals here Saturday.
Trailing 0-2 after losing the opening day’s (Friday) singles rubbers, doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan kept India’s slender hopes alive by beating Simone Boelleli and Matteo Berrettini 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an one-hour 43 minutes battle.
But it only delayed the World No.10 Italy’s march into the Finals as World No.37 Andreas Seppi outclassed top-ranked Indian Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-1, 6-4 in just over an hour in the first reverse singles to render the fifth rubber unnecessary at the Calcutta South Club.
On a career high ranking of 102, Prajnesh had no chance in the first set and though the left-hander gave a better account of himself in the second set a share of 40 unforced errors dashed his hopes. India who are currently ranked 19th will now compete in the Zonal Group action later in the year.
Terming it frustrating, Indian non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi said: “All of us had a belief but we needed to win a point yesterday. It was a monumental task to win back from 0-2 down.”
Having got a first round bye, India advanced to the World Group play-offs after defeating China 3-2 in the Asia/Oceania Zone Group I in Tianjin. They lost to Serbia 0-4 in the World Group play-offs in Kraljevo to be drawn against Italy who lost to France 1-3 in the quarters in Genoa.
However, India’s gamble on grass flopped this time with the 1976 champions Italy emerging as one of the 12 qualifiers to join 2018 champions Croatia, runners-up France, and semifinalists Spain and USA in the Finals to be held in Madrid in November.
In the must-win rubber, Bopanna and Sharan upped the ante by breaking newcomer Berrettini in the fourth game of the second set before sealing the issue.
Making a comeback for the first time since 2012, southpaw Sharan complemented senior pro Bopanna and wrapped up the match with a forehand volley winner in the end.
Bopanna outwitted Berrettini by setting up the games for Sharan to seize the opportunities with his accurate crosscourt returns. The momentum swung in favour of the Indian pair after they broke Berrettini in the fourth game of the second set.
On the other hand, Seppi brushed aside India’s top ranked Prajnesh at Kolkata’s grass court after India avoided a whitewash by taking the doubles. The 34-year-old Seppi returned unfazed by Italy’s doubles loss to outplay the 102-ranked Indian in just over an hour. The final dead singles game was not played.
Seppi hit seven aces against the left-handed Indian to silence the home crowd that had their hopes raised after the doubles result.
