Mumbai: In April, the Indian women’s tennis team descended upon Pune with hope. Their task was to take on five other teams in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 of the Billie Jean King Cup, with the aim of finishing in the top two to earn qualification to the next stage.
That group managed to beat more favoured teams like Thailand and South Korea to make it to the Playoffs of a tournament dubbed the World Cup of Tennis for only the second time.
Now, as the world No.27 Indian team assembles in Bengaluru for the Playoffs that begin on Friday, against world No.14 Netherlands and No.19 Slovenia, team captain Vishal Uppal knows the team will need more than hope.
“We have to be fearless and be more ambitious,” he said to HT. “We have to bring that attitude on court. That for us is an important step.
“We do believe, and we have to believe, that we have the ability in us to cause an upset. And the other teams will be aware of that, because we did beat world No.150 etc (in April). Even though our rankings are not that high, we are capable of causing a few upsets. From our end, we’re going to come out fighting, we’re going to come out with high energy and intensity.”
The three teams have been put together in Group G of the Playoffs, with only the group winner progressing to the Qualifier stage of the competition. The visitors though have come with fully loaded squads.
The Dutch will be spearheaded by world No.87 Suzan Lamens, with Arantxa Rus (currently ranked 139, but is a former world No.41) likely to play the second singles match. In the doubles, they have world No.21 Demi Schuurs.
Slovenia comes with world No.98 Kaja Juvan as their highest ranked player, but the threat of current No.162 Tamara Zidansek – the French Open semi-finalist in 2021, who had reached as high as world No.22 – cannot be ignored.
In comparison, the top two Indians are Sahaja Yamalapalli (world No.309) and Shrivalli Bhamidipaty (No.381). Yet, they cannot be taken lightly either.
Sahaja has recently started to find her rhythm, having beaten former US Open champion Sloane Stephens before locking horns with Paris Olympics silver-medallist Donna Vekic at the WTA250 Chennai Open.
Meanwhile Shrivalli, who had made her BJK Cup debut in April, won five matches on the trot at the competition, and has a big serve and an aggressive, hard-hitting baseline game.
Then there is the big-match experience of Ankita Raina – the only player from the current squad who played in the Playoffs in 2021 – and the unpredictability of Prarthana Thombare.
Also in the squad is former national champion Riya Bhatia, who provides an option as a player adept with both singles and doubles.
The odds are once again stacked against the Indians. But they need look as far as only April to know that they have it in them to turn the tide.
They will need to believe once again.
