India’s opponent for the Davis Cup playoffs is revealed as Canada. The 16th ranked side will host the 18th ranked side, India in the third week of September to fight it out for a pace in the World Group.
This will be the fourth successive time that India has qualified for the playoffs as they prepare to face Canada for the first time in Davis Cup history.
India beat Uzbekistan 4-1 at home last week which gave India a spot in the playoffs. Canada on the other hand lost 2-3 to Great Britain which is why they will have to beat India in order to enter the prestigious World Group of the Davis Cup.
India’s tennis coach, Mahesh Bhupathi said that he is excited at the prospect of facing Canada. He also says that this will be huge learning curve for the young Indian players.
“It will be a fun tie. They have some top players, which will challenge our boys to play at a higher level.”
India had beaten both New Zealand and Uzbekistan 4-1 in the first and second round matches respectively. The Uzbekistan tie was a notable one for India as this was the first time that Mahesh Bhupathi was a non playing captain.
india’s opponent for the Davis cup playoffs is revealed
India’s victory over Uzbekistan was affected due to the drama surrounding the exclusion of veteran Leander Paes and his subsequent public spat with Mahesh Bhupathi. The tennis authorities of India have subsequently informed both Paes and Bhupathi to behave themselves as they are setting a bad example to the youngsters of the country.
It is a shame that Paes and Bhupathi have been involved in such squabbles over the years. Once known as ‘The Indian Express’ they were among the very best doubles pairings that world tennis had ever seen. But their relationship has deteriorated over the years and now their squabbles have become tiring for everyone involved.
This tie will be a crucial one for India as it represents a very good opportunity to enter the World Group stage. India have traditionally not been a very good tennis playing nation at the Davis Cup tournaments but this tie presents a great opportunity to prove all their doubters wrong.
