Bug keeps Nadal out of Davis Cup opener

Spain leads 2-1 against India in the Davis Cup head-to-head record.

“Leander is very unsafe even though he is playing with a new partner”.

The hype around Davis Cup tie between India and Spain reached a crescendo after Nadal was named in the squad and a 4000-capacity crowd had turned up at the R K KHanna stadium to watch the legend in action but the last moment pull out left the fans disappointed here. The team playing at home, in their own conditions, are always risky. We think the doubles tie will be very tough, very equal.

The fact is, at this level, India will always be punching above their weight.

“Last night it was decided that I will play the match”.

The reverse singles matches are to be played on Sunday.

Spain are out of world group since January 2014 when they lost 1-4 to Germany in the first round. A win will ensure Spain’s return to the Davis Cup world group after two years.

Nadal had been due to play Ramkumar Ramanathan as the five-times champions seek promotion back to the World Group. “But in the end it was just a matter of a few points”, Ramanathan, who himself trains and plays in Barcelona most of the year, said. “Let’s go!”, said Feliciano on Twitter while confirming the news. That did happen. The Indian team, for a change, had a sponsor. He is India’s No.1 player, with a world ranking of 137. Ramanathan, the World No. 204, fought hard to remain in the set, but Lopez, with his experience, closed off the first set at 6-4.

“Playing at a major goes a long way to boost your confidence”, says Myneni. You have to constantly push yourself to move up. The second tie of the day was just one way traffic with Ferrer calling all the shots. “He was playing at the US Open with same problem”. There was a spell when Ramkumar Ramanathan looked as if he would ride on the surging emotions in the stands. Ramanathan, 21, is a raw talent, yet to find direction and range. “We will try our best and we will try to handle the conditions and will try to be very competitive”, Nadal said.

Nadal said it is humid but the courts are good for some good tennis. If I had held on to the serve in the fourth set or even won that set, I might have been able to win this rubber. It’s up to India to turn it into a contest. Myneni’s teammate, Leander Paes called the proposal the first marriage proposal he had witnessed and congratulated the couple. Non-playing captain: Anand Amritraj.

Ramkumar, despite his limitations against a much-superior rival, fought his heart out in a 4-6 4-6 6-3 1-6 defeat to world number 26 Feliciano Lopez in the first match.