India's Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal on Saturday said he couldn't have asked for a better performance from the team against Denmark.
A dominant India conquered the grass courts at the Delhi Gymkhana Club (DGC) with a 4-0 annihilation of Denmark and booked a spot in the Davis Cup World Group 1 stage. They sealed the playoff tie against the Danes in a commanding fashion.
"We could not have asked for better performance. The boys played really well yesterday and then today as well. The doubles was a very close match as I kept saying to everybody. Everybody sort of kept saying that we should win easily and expected them to change the team as well, so we are lucky to come through that. The doubles could have gone either way. So very happy with the outcome," Rohit Rajpal told ANI.
Building on their 2-0 lead after Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri won their respective singles on Friday, India's doubles team of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan came from a set down to put it across the Danish pair of Frederik Nielsen and Mikael Torpegaard 6(3)-7(7), 6-4, 7(7)-6(4) in a three-setter to take an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Talking about the doubles match, the skipper said a couple of points could have changed the outcome of the match.
"I am a human too, sitting there as tense as you guys were. And in a doubles game, it goes very fast. A couple of points can change the outcome of the match. So, I think the reflex volley you saw on match point of Rohan when the guy got hit very hard on the body was, I think, the turning point. When they won that, there was a certain burst of energy in him and the momentum changed from there on," he said.
Later, in the reverse singles, which was no more than a dead rubber, Ramkumar edged past Johannes Ingildsson, 5-7, 7-5, 10-7 to make it 4-0 for the home side.
Rohit Rajpal said there was no lack of commitment from any of the boys.
"Ram was a little too relaxed in the first set. However, he wanted to come out and play today which is another great thing. He was hungry to come out and finish it. So Indians are fully committed to Davis Cup, there is no two ways about it. We want to play for our country. We want to do well for our country so there is no lack of commitment in any of my boys I can assure you that," he said.
"We are waiting. In the early part of the coming week, we will know which country we are playing in September and then we will strategise as to how we prepare," he added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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