Nadal combined with Marc Lopez in the doubles to overhaul Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni in four sets and complete a 3-0 victory in New Delhi on Saturday, ending Spain’s exile after an acrimonious period.
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Given the way Nadal played during the double tie, with several scintillating shots coming forth from his forehand the wrist didn’t seem to be the problem at all.
Spain have beaten India 5-0 in the Davis Cup World Group playoff after Marc Lopez beat Sumit Nagal and David Ferrer dismantled Ramkumar Ramanathan in the reverse singles tonight. He saved three more after receiving the treatment, held the serve and broke Lopez to take a 3-0 lead in the decisive set. Though he had a poor first set, losing 3-6 but he came back strongly to stun his senior opponent 6-1 to draw the parity.
The 19-year-old from Jhajjar district of Haryana wrested the upper hand in the initial stages of the third set as well, before struggling with stomach cramps and breathing problems towards the end which saw him require a medical timeout. It is a pleasure to play him here. The 19-year-old from Jhajjar district of Haryana now trains in Germany for last few years and that’s why he was as unusual to the humid conditions of Delhi as his counterpart.
But into the third set Nagal himself was finding it hard to even stand. Nagal himself was unsure.
“I am really excited because I and Saketh played for the first time together”.
The proceedings then went with the serve – although Nagal threatened to clinch a break in the seventh game – as Lopez clinched the first set without breaking much sweat. The 43-year-old said he would love to partner Myneni in the circuit as well. “For us it was a very important confrontation after two years being away from the World Group”, Nadal said after the doubles rubber, which lasted three hours and 23 minutes. But his joy was short-lived as the Spaniard grabbed his second consecutive break in the very next game and never looked back.
The first few games of the second set went with the serve before Nagal claimed a break thanks to a long return from Lopez to go 3-1 up. When he was back on his feet, he found that his service game extended long and he had to fight off as many as six break points before he held serve for a 2-0 lead.
“It has been a great learning experience”.
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“It was not the wrist, no”, clarified Rafa, when asked to elaborate on the contradiction that had inadvertently emerged. “I have been honest about my wrist and (it) is true (it) is in the process (that it) is improving as I said at the US Open (it) is still bothering me a little bit but the process is a positive one”. There is a lot of humidity here and after practice, I had lunch at hotel and I felt I was not feeling ideal to go on court.
