By Admin 
Dhakshineswar Suresh will carry the hopes of the Indian team when he plays the first singles match against Jerome Kym in the Davis Cup World Group-1 tie in Biel, Switzerland, on Friday.
Having closely followed the fortunes of the 25-year-old Dhakshineswar in recent times, especially when he qualified for the ATP event in Winston-Salem, beating the former world No.19 Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, captain Rohit Rajpal chose to play the right card by promoting the player from the reserve squad.
“Happy that Dhakshineswar plays first. He is in good form, and we are hoping to get a good start. The first day is always crucial in Davis Cup,” said Rohit after the draw ceremony.
While the team brought in Dhakshineswar in place of Karan Singh, it was forced to make another change, as the US Open doubles semifinalist Yuki Bhambri was suffering from a heel injury.
Rithvik Bollipalli, ranked 71, the third-best Indian doubles player behind Yuki and Rohan Bopanna, walked into the squad to partner the 75th ranked Sriram Balaji.
Both Jerome Kym and Marc-Andrea Huesler can play much superior to what their ranking of 155 and 222 may suggest. Both have played top level tennis and Huesler in particular was ranked a career-best 47 in 2023, when he qualified and played the fourth round of US Open.
India will bank on the return of its No. 1 Sumit Nagal, ranked 290. He was ranked a career-best 68 last year, and would attempt to pull his weight for the team after having stayed away for the last two ties.
The 25-year-old Dhakshineswar is ranked 626 mainly because he has not played many tournaments. His efficiency in indoor court conditions and his big game, especially the monstrous serve, could help him dictate the flow of a match against any opponent on his day.
India has a 2-1 win-loss record against Switzerland. The last time the two teams met was in 1993, when Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishnan saw the team past Marc Rosset and Jakob Hlasek 3-2 on the grass courts of the South Club in Kolkata.
In fact, the Olympic champion Rosset won both his singles matches, and India swept the other three which included a five-set win over Rosset and Hlasek in the doubles by Ramesh and Leander.
Tennis has changed a lot over the years, and it will be interesting to see how well Indian tennis competes against the Swiss on their soil.
The draw:
September 12: Jerome Kym vs Dhakshineswar Suresh (5.30 p.m. IST); followed by Marc-Andrea Huesler vs Sumit Nagal.
September 13: Jakub Paul & Dominic Stricker vs Sriram Balaji & Rithvik Bollipally (4.30 p.m. IST); followed by Jerome Kym vs Sumit Nagal; followed by Marc-Andrea Huesler vs Dhakshineswar Suresh.
= = = EOM