IANS
New Delhi, Sept 17: Indian coach Zeeshan Ali feels that hosting Spain in the ongoing Davis Cup World Group play-off tie with the likes of Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer will provide a massive boost to tennis in the country.
Despite the lop-sided nature of the singles contests on the opening day, Ali asserted that hosting the star-studded Spanish squad is a positive move for Indian tennis.
“I think it’s great to have Spain over here. This is probably the toughest team to ever visit India. We hosted the United States back in 1994 who had Todd Martin and Jim Courier in their squad, but I think the kind of an aura and the legend Rafael Nadal is, that did not happen before this. This is clearly the toughest one of the last three play-offs we had,” Zeeshan stated Saturday.
“It is great for tennis in India from a fan’s perspective to watch the likes of Nadal, David Ferrer and Feleciano Lopez play. It is a great experience for our players as well. Ramkumar (Ramanathan) and Saketh (Myneni) are relatively new for playing singles. But irrespective of the results, they will benefit by playing with the likes of (David) Ferrer and seeing Nadal in action,” he added.
Zeeshan also lauded the fact that in spite of falling prey to injury, Nadal had not left the country. “Players of his stature would have certainly gone back,” informed Zeeshan. “I think, like Leander Paes, Nadal is all about patriotism. At the Olympics, Nadal played in singles, doubles and mixed doubles as well. That speaks volumes about his responsibility towards his country.”
Zeeshan also failed to understand the controversy about the tie being played in the evening and not taking advantage of the hot and humid home conditions by conducting the matches in the afternoon.
“Do you think heat and humidity can affect players like Nadal or Ferrer,” shot back Zeeshan. “They have seen all that. I would have definitely wanted the tie in the evening because we have players like Leander who is 43. So I am happy about the timing,” asserted the Indian coach.