The ultimate chapter of the glittering Davis Cup profession of Rohan Bopanna begins in a reasonably unfamiliar territory when India takes on Morocco in a World Group II tie on the exhausting courts on the Vijayant Khand Mini Stadium in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow on September 16-17.
The 43-year-old Bopanna, who grew to become the oldest Grand Slam finalist within the Open Period along with his run to the lads’s doubles summit conflict on the US Open final week, is ready to retire from the group competitors after what will probably be his fiftieth match.
Because the introduction of the brand new Davis Cup format in 2019 after the Worldwide Tennis Federation struck a take care of Gerard Pique’s funding group Kosmos, India will probably be concerned in a Group II match for the primary time. It had misplaced the Group I play-off 2-3 to Holger Rune-led Denmark in Hillerød earlier this 12 months.
The primary Davis Cup tie in Lucknow in 23 years begins with the 2 singles matches on Saturday. Mukund Sasikumar is ready to make his Davis Cup debut after being drawn to face World No. 557 Yassine Dlimi.
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Within the different singles match of the opening day, India No. 1 Sumit Nagal takes on World No. 779 Adam Moundir. World No. 156 Nagal, who would be the nation’s sole consultant in males’s singles on the upcoming Asian Video games in Hangzhou, was anticipated to be up in opposition to Elliot Benchetrit however Moroccan captain Mehdi Tahiri determined to area his top-ranked singles participant solely in doubles as a consequence of his ongoing health points.
“Elliot Benchetrit is a bit of bit injured. He had not performed too many matches. The opposite two gamers are good and in form,” mentioned Tahiri throughout the official draw ceremony performed by the Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath at his official residence on Friday.
On Sunday, Bopanna will group up with Yuki Bhambri to tackle Benchetrit and Younes Lalami Laaroussi within the doubles match adopted by reverse singles – Nagal vs Dlimi and Sasikumar vs Moundir.
Whereas the Rohit Rajpal-led Indian aspect is anticipated to dominate the tie, the situations may play a key function in making the match attention-grabbing. Whereas the final couple of days within the State capital have been fairly humid with temperatures within the early 30s, there may be rain forecast for Saturday.
“It is going to be troublesome due to the humid situations however we got here right here two weeks in the past. We needs to be high-quality. Rankings clever India is best. They’ve an excellent doubles group however most of their gamers practise exterior India and warmth will probably be an element for them too,” mentioned Tahiri.
The winner of the tie will tackle one of many shedding groups from the continued World Group I ties in a Group I play-off subsequent 12 months.