Picture Credits – Surya Nandhan Rajendhiran(Instagram – sr28_sports)
A near full house crowd at the Calcutta South Club was greeted to a tantalisingly close doubles rubber, with the home team of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan coming up with an excellent comeback win over the Italian pairing of Simone Bolelli and Matteo Berrettini.
Rohan and Divij were down 3-1 in the deciding set, before using the crowd’s energy to edge out the Italians. The Indians eventually won 4-6 6-3 6-4.
While serving for the match, Rohan found himself a break point down on his serve, before eventually stepping up to close it. On being asked if he was nervous, Rohan quickly dismissed the statement, saying “It is like going to office for me, I have been doing this since 2002 in Davis Cup. I am used to being 30-40 down. I play to my strengths.”
All eyes were on Prajnesh, as he took on Italy’s warhorse, Andreas Seppi. Seppi showed his class, giving Prajnesh no chance to have a look in. Prajnesh lost 1-6 4-6, with the Italian proving too strong for him on the day.
“I didn’t play with enough intensity… couldn’t find the right gear”, Prajnesh admitted. “He played well under pressure. I gave an early lead, he stepped on it and never really gave me a chance to come back. I was trying different things, but it wasn’t enough.”
Results –
[R3] Rohan Bopanna/Divij Sharan(IND) beat Simone Bolelli/Matteo Berrettini 4-6 6-3 6-4
[R4] Prajnesh Gunneswaran (IND,102) lost to Andreas Seppi (ITA,37) 1-6 4-6
