Mumbai: The big-serving Dhakshineswar Suresh pulled off two stunning singles wins to go with playing his part in the doubles rubber as India stunned higher-ranked Netherlands 3-2 in the Davis Cup Qualifiers Round 1 in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The win will earn India a promotion to the Qualifiers Round 2. India have never been to the second round of the Qualifiers since the new format was introduced. The 14 teams in that group will battle for a place in the elite eight-team Finals.
India were bumped up to the Qualifiers stage on the back of another significant victory over ninth seeds Switzerland in their den last September. With a storied Davis Cup history that had hit rock bottom not too long ago, these are better times for India once again.
For context, the Netherlands are ranked sixth in the world while India are placed 33rd. The Netherlands are 2024 Davis Cup finalists while India have largely plied in the World Group or regional stages in recent times. Even without their top two singles pros, both of the visiting contingent’s singles players are higher ranked, including world No.88 Jesper De Jong.
India have another famous Davis Cup win over the Dutch – in the World Group last 16 stage in Jaipur in 1996 – in the more elaborate older format.
This time though, India had a trump card in Dhakshineswar, who was the secret weapon in India’s win over Switzerland in Biel. In Bengaluru, on those hard courts where his serves sizzled, Dhakshineswar, ranked 465 in singles, would again play a starring role in defeating two higher-ranked opponents.
The one that mattered the most was against world No.162 Guy Den Ouden 6-4, 7-6(4) in the deciding fifth rubber. As soon as the 25-year-old sealed the match point, the Indian contingent sprinted on the court, huddled around the man of the moment lying flat on the court and then lifted him on their shoulders.
Dhakshineswar had also upset De Jong on Saturday, and India captain Rohit Rajpal made a tactical change in fielding him for doubles too. It worked as he and Yuki Bhambri defeated Sander Arends and David Pel 7-6(0), 3-6, 7-6(1) in a three-hour contest that tilted the tie in India’s favour.
After India singles No.1 Sumit Nagal, world No.281, lost to De Jong 7-5, 1-6, 4-6, Dhakshineswar had to come back and find the one last push. His big serves still had the sting, and his returns and attacking play the legs, to get the job done for his team.
“Unreal feeling,” Dhakshineswar said in an on-court chat with the broadcasters. “Doing this for India, playing three matches and getting them all done, I can’t even describe this feeling right now.”
