Davis Cup first round preview: India vs Chinese Taipei

Rohan Bopanna returns after a 2-year ban

After the hustle-bustle of the Australian Open, the tennis world’s focus will shift to the team event in world tennis with the Davis Cup first round action getting underway the coming weekend. The first Davis Cup weekend of the year will see nations battling it out in the first rounds of their respective groups. The Indian team will be aiming to return to the World Group and will face Chinese Taipei at home in the Group 1 Asia/Oceania first round.

After the dispute between the players and the association following the Olympic fiasco, India would be fielding a near-full strength team against rivals Chinese Taipei. The major change to the Indian team is the return of Rohan Bopanna and the absence of Leander Paes.

Bopanna will be making a comeback after a ban of 2 years and will significantly boost India’s doubles chances in the tie. The Bangalorean has had a good start to the year partnering Aisam ul Haq Qureshi having reached the finals in Sydney and the 3rd round at the Australian Open. Having been the first one to reach Indore, Bopanna was optimistic about his return to the team:

“It is great to be back in the team. I always like to come on Sunday or Monday, in case I play a final. We play Davis Cup only two or three weeks in a year. It is unique and special. We need to prepare well the whole week.”

Meanwhile, veteran Leander Paes has taken a break from national duty to spend some time with his family. In the absence of Paes, Indian youngster Saketh Myneni would be partnering Bopanna for the doubles match. This would also be the first tie for India’s new non-playing captain Anand Amritraj, who would be replacing S.P. Mishra following a revolt from a group of players.

The singles responsibility for India would be borne by Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri. Devvarman has had a subdued start to the year failing to progress at the Chennai Open as well as the Australian Open. On the other hand, Yuki Bhambri made it to his first ever quarterfinal at an ATP event in Chennai. Bhambri was also successful in the doubles in Melbourne, reaching the 3rd round losing to the experienced pair of Paes and Radek Stepanek.

As for opponents Chinese Taipei, the absence of world number 54 Yen Hsun Lu and experienced campaigner Jimmy Wang would be a severe deterrent to their chances of progressing to the 2nd round. In the absence of these top 200 players, world number 216 Tsung-Hua Yang and 284th ranked Ti Chen would be shouldering the singles responsibility fro the visitors. The doubles would be played by Hsien-Yin Peng and Hsin-Han Lee.

These two teams have met once before in 2009 with India edging out Chinese Taipei in a close encounter 3-2. Both teams maintained their positions in Group 1 with comprehensive victories over Indonesia without losing a set in the entire encounter. The winners in Indore will face South Korea in April for a place in the world group play-offs.

With an inexperienced squad coupled with an away tie, Chinese Taipei would find it difficult as they head into the match. However, as has been proved several times, rankings do not matter much in a Davis Cup tie, the Indians have to be wary of their opponents and cannot take them lightly.

The schedule of play for the tie is as follows:

Day 1 (Friday, January 31st): 10 am

Yuki Bhambri vs Tsung-Hua Yang

Somdev Devvarman vs Ti Chen

Day 2 (Saturday, February 1st): 12 pm

Rohan Bopanna/Saketh Myneni vs Hsin-Han Lee/Hsien-Yin Peng

Day 3 (Sunday, February 2nd): 10 am

Somdev Devvarman vs Tsung-Hua Yang

Yuki Bhambri vs Ti Chen