“DK delivers for India. What a performance from the Indian No.2 as Dhakshineswar Suresh takes out Jesper De Jong and levels the tie on Day 1.” the commentator’s words after DK took out De Jong in straights.
This is one of the performances that boosts DK’s confidence a lot after his knee injury sustained in Bengaluru last month, and he has been struggling in college as well. This match would give a lot of confidence to him as well as the Indian team.
It has been a great day at the office for the debutant Guy Den Ouden, who had tremendous success on the clay circuit last year, and now he is trying to replicate that on hard courts as well. He played a solid match against Sumit Nagal, who has been coming back from a minor hip injury. The first set was a lopsided one, where Nagal completely lost his rhythm, as a lack of match practice came into play.
In the second set, Nagal started to find his rhythm back. He held his serve comfortably and unleashed his forehand down the line, got the break at 4-3, and then regained his confidence to play his natural game. He won the second set 6-4, and the Bengaluru crowd erupted. This match reminded many of peak Davis Cup ties what a crowd support for Nagal, making it tough for the Dutch.
But Den Ouden fought back. Nagal overpowered an easy forehand/drop volley and was down 0-2 in the decider. He bounced back and got the break in the seventh game of the deciding set. However, he couldn’t capitalise on the opportunity. He missed easy shots here and there, including a crucial volley that made it 3-5, and Den Ouden sealed it in style. “Brave performance from Den Ouden after losing his three matches on hard courts earlier this year. This is his first win on hard courts this year.”
Let’s talk about the second match, where DK Suresh played against a counterpuncher, De Jong, whose game is almost similar to Sumit Nagal’s. DK Suresh’s serve was lethal in the first set, not giving many chances on the return side for De Jong, who couldn’t adapt to the conditions. He struggled on his return game, somehow held his serve, but couldn’t deliver in pressure situations as DK attacked his forehand and took the first set 6-4 by breaking him in the 10th game.
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In the second set, both held their serves comfortably. There were not many long rallies; most of the exchanges were short, which helped DK a lot, as De Jong loves to grind it down in long rallies. DK held his nerves and saved a break point on his serve. The set moved to 6-5, with De Jong serving to stay in the match. Here, the pressure came under his skin. Back-to-back double faults handed DK a 0-30 lead.
With the help of the net cord and a delicate lob from DK Suresh, he earned three match points. De Jong hammered his first serve and saved two match points. Then came the decisive exchange.
“Here comes the long rally, De Jong hitting cross-court forehands and DK returning it really well. Then De Jong rushed to the net, and DK sliced to De Jong’s leg. He volleyed, and DK ran and hammered a powerful forehand to seal the deal.” This was DK’s first win over a top-100 player in his career.
It was a good day at the office for India. DK got his confidence back after his knee injury sustained in January, and Nagal found his rhythm again after his minor hip injury in Nonthaburi. The tie stands level at 1-1, setting up a decisive Day 2. Now, it all depends on the doubles and the reverse singles. The next match will be the doubles clash between Yuki Bhambri/N. Sriram Balaji and Sander Arends/David Pel.
Will India crawl back and win this tie, and make it to the second round of the Qualifiers?
The action resumes at 2 PM IST at the SM Krishna Stadium, Cubbon Park, Bengaluru. The stage is set for another gripping chapter in India’s Davis Cup campaign.
