Bengaluru: It was a great day for Mahesh Bhupathi in office. Carrying a 2-0 lead after the opening day’s rubbers against Uzbekistan, the 42-year-old was justified in his selection of the team. Especially the one he made two months ago when named the captain.
“Two months ago, I called Prajnesh (Gunneswaran) and said I want him to play on day one of the Davis Cup. He has a big serve and a forehand. He’s got weapons. So I told him to start preparing then and he has made me proud,” stated the captain.
Make him proud he certainly did.
“At that point, I thought I’d be playing Istomin,” said Prajnesh. “There were things that I had to work on so I decided to play Futures tournaments and do as much as I can do to work on the things we talked about. I didn’t go into the match assuming it will be a three-set game. I was ready to battle,” he added after his victory over Sanjar Fayziev.
Bhupathi also revealed his happiness at Ramkumar Ramanathan’s performance, disjointed as it was to open India’s campaign with a win against Temur Ismailov.
“We expected a lot from Ram going into the match. He hasn’t been winning much but one thing we know is that he is a fighter and he found a way,” he remarked.
