Davis Cup: Dhakshineswar Suresh serves up a treat as India beat the Netherlands 3-2 to get closer to World Group

Sumit Nagal, still cagey with an injury after three weeks of rehab, then went down in three sets. But nothing prepared the crowd or the desperate Dutch for the tall 26-year-old Indian to turn up and slam- dunk those serves over and over again – with 15 aces fetching up just when needed.

On Saturday, DK had defeated World No 88 Jesper De Jong, and emboldened captain Rohit Rajpal enlisted him into the doubles match, replacing Sriram Balaji. Bhambri was shouldering the bulk of the responsibility in clutch moments, but it helped that DK was around to unleash one more unreturnable whenever Yuki faltered. The Indians had held their nerve to beat David Pel and Sander Arends 7-6 (0), 3-6, 7-6 (1), India’s first doubles win in their last five face-offs against Europeans in playoffs, but Nagal playing the first reverse singles couldn’t seal the deal at the first time of asking.

DK then turned the crowd riotous as he got off rollicking – resuming an endless acethon where the Dutchman was thwarted by both the bulk and kick of the flying serve. There was also a Samprasian smash, though all such comparisons will sound hyperbolic, given the Indian is No.465 in rankings.

“Emotions have been high since the beginning. The crowd gave me a good boost of confidence, to step on court again. And again. It’s surreal, unreal playing three matches for India and getting it all done; but the crowd helped in fighting. I wanna thank my parents, coaches and all of India,” DK told DD Sports after the 3-2 win, even as the raucous crowd stayed on well past 10 pm with Rohan Bopanna in attendance and cheering on the team.

Where did he come from

Dhakshineswar’s been under the radar slightly, because he’s 26 already and not featured at the Slams much. But he’s been threatening to burst onto the scene. He created quite a stir at Winston-Salem ATP 250 last August making the main draw with a thundering comeback win over former Top 20 Alejandro Tabilo as a wild card. He had followed up on previous wins over Top 150 players – Billy Harris (No.146) and Estonian Mark Lajal (147) at Lexington in late July last year.

On Sunday in Bengaluru, chants of ‘DK DK DK’ reverberated as his bazooka serve flew. Not only did his serve have a killer kick, he also displayed great movement rushing to the net for aggressive volleys and some crunching forehands hit from wide. So explosive is his rushing to the net where he volleys like a whip that the Dutchman shuddered and eventually failed to pass him.

The Indian got the breaks late in both sets, and though his opponent resisted with some fine returns, DK was not to be denied.

“I think my big serve and big forehand troubled De Jong the most,” DK had told DavisCup.com after his Saturday win. “In conditions like Bengaluru, at high altitude, the ball travels faster. So, it’s tough to control the ball when I’m hitting the ball hard. I was feeling good that I was able to put him in uncomfortable situations throughout the match,” he had said.