Injured Yuki Bhambri pulls out of Davis Cup, Sumit Nagal ‘not keen’ to step in

The country’s highest ranked singles player Yuki Bhambri (96) and second highest doubles player Divij Sharan (38) both suffered injuries at US Open and have hence pulled out of the tie.

Yuki Bhambri pulls out of Davis Cup.

The US Open’s proximity to the Davis Cup World Group Playoffs may have cost Serbia the services of their spearhead Novak Djokovic, but it has also severely impacted the travelling Indian team’s roster. The country’s highest ranked singles player Yuki Bhambri (96) and second highest doubles player Divij Sharan (38) both suffered injuries at the elite event in New York and have hence pulled out of the tie.

The AITA on Wednesday picked N Sriram Balaji and youngster Arjun Kadhe as replacements. Bhambri, who had earlier missed out on the second round zonal tie against China in April due to an abdominal issue, has been struggling with a tendinitis problem on both knees since the clay season. The 26-year-old, as a result, was absent from the tour since his first round loss at Wimbledon in July. He did return for the last major of the year, though still not completely recovered, but suffered a first round loss to Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert after aggravating the injury. Asian Games gold medallist and doubles specialist Sharan, meanwhile, suffered a tear on his shoulder and has been sidelined for at least three weeks.

The AITA’s first choice of replacement was 2015 Junior Wimbledon doubles champion Sumit Nagal. The 21-year-old, however, opted to play the Challenger tour event in Genoa instead of travelling to Serbia for the Davis Cup tie that starts on September 14.

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“Sumit was vague about his stance,” says AITA selection committee chairman SP Misra. “He said his rank has been dropping and he has to play qualifiers just to get into tournaments. He was vague but it was clear he wasn’t keen. So we decided he was no longer an option.” With Bhambri and Sharan out, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni remained in the squad that was initially announced. Myneni and Kadhe has been drafted as reserve players, and Ramkumar and Prajnesh will play the four singles rubbers and Balaji will pair up with Bopanna for the doubles tie.

“Balaji had combined well when he played with Bopanna for the tie against Uzbekistan last year,” Misra adds. “He’s got a big serve as well which will be useful on the clay courts the team has to play on in Serbia. That’s why he was picked.”

The world no 110 had broken into the top 100 earlier in the year and had qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time when he partnered Vishnu Vardhan at the Wimbledon Championships. The 28-year-old has also won doubles titles at Challengers in Chennai and Samarkand this year.

Bopanna is the highest ranked Indian player, 37, in men’s doubles. He had paired up with Sharan in August to win gold at the Asian Games. Despite the team being forced to undergo changes so close to a tie, Indian tennis by now is used to such contingencies. At Pune, last year, against New Zealand for a first round zonal tie, Myneni was ruled out a day before the customary Thursday draw ceremony. Overnight, the selection committee roped in Vishnu Vardhan. In the next round against Uzbekistan, Bhambri pulled out due to a knee injury.

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Later on in Canada for the World Group playoff, both Myneni and Balaji were ruled out due to injury, prompting captain Mahesh Bhupathi to name Purav Raja as a replacement. And as recently as the Asian Games, veteran Leander Paes withdrew two days before the tennis event could begin.

The only positive the AITA can see for the current tie is that the changes have been made at least a week before the draw ceremony. “That’ll give the players enough time to go ahead with the plans of a small camp in Belgrade,” says AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee. “It’s meant for them to acclimatize to the cold conditions in Serbia.”

With the Serbians opting to play on the indoor clay courts of the Kraljevo Sports Venue, the host team’s captain Nenad Zimonjic has named a strong squad, despite the absence of Djokovic – three players, Filip Krajinovic (33), Dusan Lajovic (62) and Laslo Djere (89) are ranked in the top 100.