What next for India in Davis Cup 2023?

Indis lost to Denmark in the World Group I play-off match to drop down to World Group II.

India lost to Denmark (2-3) in the World Group Stage I play-off match of the Davis Cup. With the defeat, India have now been relegated to World Group Stage II for the first time since the introduction of the new system in 2019. Denmark's Holger Rune was the catalyst in their victory, with the World No. 9 winning each of his three matches, to lead Denmark to a 3-2 win.

Concern in singles section

The singles section has been a concern for the past few years. Two years back India had three players inside the top 200 of the ATP rankings with Prajnesh Gunneswaran leading the pack. He was closely followed by Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal. The form has gone down drastically post the pandemic with none of the three players able to win a challenger trophy.

If we look at the current rankings, Prajnesh is at 342, Sasikumar Mukund at 399, Ramkumar Ramanathan at 413, and Sumit Nagal at 506. Out of the five players, only two are ranked inside the top 400.

Is success in doubles the answer?

The doubles on the other hand have taken a giant stride with five players (Rohan Bopanna, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Yuki Bhambri, Saketh Myneni, and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan) inside the top 100 of the ATP rankings. But will the doubles section bring in glory for India at the Davis Cup? The answer is a big “NO”.

Out of the five ties played across two days, only one doubles match was played with the rest four matches being singles. So for a country to succeed at the Davis Cup, they need to have a strong depth in singles or have a star player who can single-handedly turn things upside down.

Denmark, for example, has Holger Rune (No. 9). None apart from him are inside the top 300 in singles. In a similar way, Norway has only Casper Ruud (World No. 4) in the top 10. No one apart from him are inside the top 300. India lost both their Davis Cup matches against Denmark and Norway with both Rune and Ruud playing a massive role in their respective matches.

Sumit Nagal is yet to win a singles match in the Challenger or ATP circuit in 2023, but won a decisive match in the second singles match against Denmark. Ramkumar Ramanathan has looked good in patches and started the 2023 season on a bright note winning the qualifying rounds of the ATP 250 Maharashtra Open against the top 200 players.

Also, India lost both their doubles match in their last two Davis Cup ties. Rohan Bopanna should have paired with Ramkumar Ramanathan with both having won two ATP tour titles in the past and have a good camaraderie. Yuki Bhambri recently announced that he will solely focus on the doubles section but it was unclear as to why the management persisted with him in the singles. Had India won the doubles tie, then the match could have gone either way which wasn't the case.

What next for India at Davis Cup?

With their defeat to Denmark in the World Group I play-off, India slipped down to World Group II. A total of 24 teams, including 12 losing teams from World Group I playoffs and 12 winning from World Group II play-offs, are now in World Group II. All teams will be in action on September 15-17.

Teams in Davis Cup World Group II

Seeded Teams: Ecuador, India, New Zealand, Mexico, Pakistan, Uruguay, Lebanon, Slovenia, Tunisia, El Salvador, Hong Kong, Poland

Unseeded Teams: Latvia, Barbados, Morocco, Indonesia, Ireland, Egypt, Monaco, Jamaica, China, Georgia, Thailand, Luxembourg

India are one of the 12-seeded teams in the Davis Cup World Group II. It will not be a tough task for India to progress through to Group I playoffs in September. However, the main aim would be to build the future in singles and go further into higher rounds. There are three Challenger events scheduled to be held in India starting with Chennai Open followed by Bengaluru Open, and the Pune Open. 

Sumit Nagal is yet to win a singles match in the Challenger or ATP circuit in 2023 but won a decisive match in the second singles. Ramkumar Ramanathan has looked good in patches and started the 2023 season on a bright note winning the qualifying rounds of the ATP 250 Maharashtra Open against the top 200 players.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran recently won the ITF 25 Kuwait Open his first singles title after a long time. So this will be a great opportunity for these players to attain maximum rating points and rank higher.