Davis Cup 2024 Results: Ramkumar Ramanathan, N Sriram Balaji give India 2-0 lead against Pakistan

Modified Feb 03, 2024 18:48 GMT

Qatar ExxonMobil Open 2021 - Day One — Ramkumar Ramanathan in action. (Photo Credits: Getty Images)

India, on Saturday (February 3), took a 2-0 lead in their Davis Cup World Group 1 playoff tie against Pakistan. Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji were on top of their games and put their team in a commanding position.

Ramanathan had to fight hard as he rallied back from a set down to beat Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-0 in Islamabad. The fact that Qureshi struggled with his hamstring in challenging conditions in the third set helped Ramanathan.

Qureshi made 10 double faults, which led to his downfall. Ramanathan fought his way out of trouble with 20 aces.

In the second set, Qureshi stormed to a 3-0 lead to put his opponent under extreme pressure. However, Ramanathan made a comeback to take the set into a tie-breaker where he dictated terms.

With Qureshi finding it tough to continue in the third and final set due to his injury, Ramanathan turned the screws on his Pakistani opponent.

Balaji, on the other hand, had to hold his nerve to fight past a resilient Aqeel Khan in the opening set. He converted two break point chances to come up trumps against Khan.

After Ramanathan and Balaji got their team off to a flying start, India are only one win away from securing a berth in the World Group 1.

Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni have a great chance of helping India win the tie when they face Muzammil Murtaza and Barkatullah in the doubles. Ramanathan and Balaji would also play their singles matches against Aqeel Khan and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi respectively.