India cruised to the win today with a 4-0 win over Pakistan. The overall set of match results are listed
[R1] Ramkumar Ramanathan d. Muhammad Shoaib 6-0, 6-0;
[R2] Sumit Nagal d. Huzaifa Abdul Rehman 6-0, 6-2;
[R3] Leander Paes & Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan d. Huzaifa Abdul Rehman & Muhammad Shoaib 6-1, 6-3
[R4] Sumit Nagal d. Yousef Kalil 6-1, 6-0
Team Manager Mr Sunder Iyer prepared a video dispatch with the team sharing its views on the matches today and the tie in detail.
The transcript of the same is given below
Thoughts on the match today
Leander Paes: It was fabulous to play with Jeevan in his first Davis Cup match.
Right from the beginning, he did everything right. When we entered the stadium itself, he found my laundry which I had lost 4 days ago and put me in a great mood and put me in a situation where I can go 100 levels up if I needed to!!
On a more serious note, today was about being solid and more importantly camaraderie and teamwork. I’ve known Jeevan for a few years now and I’ve always mentioned that he has a big heart. He loves to play for the flag and always puts his best foot forward. Today it didn’t need much apart from being solid. I am really proud to have shared the court with Jeevan today.
How was it to come back into the team?
Leander: Yes, I have been out for about 18 months now. I grew up in a family where both my parents played for the blue jersey, the flag and the people. So it is great to be with these youngsters like Jeevan.
I know my responsibility – I’ve got to come into the team and shoulder the pressure. These guys keep me young, fresh and vibrant and bring out the best in me. When you look at our team, we’ve got a great mix of generations and age groups. It is a great fun to be back playing for India again!
To Sumit Nagal – What are your thoughts on your match?
Sumit Nagal: It was an easy win. The guys (Pakistanis) are young and need a lot of experience. I did what I wanted to do – went for my serves, for my shots and worked on my game. It was another opportunity to work on my game and spend time on the court. So overall had a good time.
You came into the tie without any Davis Cup wins under your belt and now you have two wins
The losses I had were not good especially the Spain tie where I was leading 4-1 in the third set and then I lost my match in China. Yes, at the end of the day, the wins count and it doesn’t matter who they are against. So now I will be going home with 2 wins.
Today was my last day of the season. I can’t complain. It has been a long but fantastic year and very very positive.
Coach Rajpal on Leander Paes
We salute and appreciate the dedication of the son of our soil – Leander Paes. He has added one more win to his cap and we hope that he continues to bring more laurels to our country
Zeeshan Ali shares his thoughts on the tie
Boys have been working hard, putting in all the effort and the results showed that. Everybody did a great job including support staff and especially the new captain Rohit.
Dedicating this win to the Armed Forces
Rohit Rajpal added, “We discussed amongst us and we all feel very strongly about dedicating our victory to the armed forces and especially those families who have lost their loved ones while they protected our families at the border and across the country. We will like to dedicate this to the army.”
