India has drawn top seed and three-time champion Czech Republic in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tie, to be played at home, from September 18 to 20.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) will decide the surface and venue in consultation with the players. The whole Indian team has flown into the US for tournaments, after having beaten New Zealand 3-2 in the Asia-Oceania second round tie in Christchurch.
“The venues shortlisted are Delhi and Pune”, said a statement from the AITA secretary general, Bharat Oza.
The matter would be taken up by the AITA Executive Committee after consultation with the parties concerned.
The Czech Republic, which had won the title in 2012 and 2013 apart from 1980 (as Czechoslovakia), had lost to France in the semifinals last year. It lost to Australia 2-3 in the World Group first round tie this year, when it was without the services of current world No. 6, Tomas Berdych.
India had played a good tie against the Czech Republic last time in 1997, in the ice hockey rink in Pribram. The former world No.2, Petr Korda won both his singles matches against Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi on indoor clay. However, Korda and Martin Damm had lost to Paes and Bhupathi in doubles. Paes had beaten Jiri Novak on the first day in four sets, but Novak clinched it for the Czech with a fluent win over Bhupathi in the fifth rubber.
Perfect record The Czech Republic also has a 3-0 win-loss record against India, having won the earlier ties 4-1 as Czechoslovakia in 1986 in Kolkata and 1926 in Prague.
While India had a close call against Serbia in Bengaluru last September in the World Group play-off, when it lost 2-3, the Czech Republic has stayed in the World Group since 2006.
The absence of world No.1 Novak Djokovic had opened the door for India, but Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic won three singles matches between them to take the team forward.
With the first round losers of the World Group being seeded 1 to 8, India had chances of home ties against Japan, US and Italy, apart from Czech Republic.
India has an enviable 18-4 record against Japan, while it is 0-1 against the US and 1-4 against Italy. Had India drawn Brazil, Croatia, Switzerland or Germany, it would have travelled to these countries. It may be recalled that India had beaten Brazil in Chennai in 2010, after being down 0-2. India had beaten Switzerland 3-2 in Kolkata in 1993, and Croatia 3-2 in Delhi in 1995.
Zeeshan sounds confidentPrincipal Correspondent adds from Chennai
India’s coach Zeeshan Ali sounded confident about its team’s chances against the Czech Republic. “Last time we played the No.2 seeds Serbia and this time it’s the No. 1. But it is at home. There are also rumours that Tomas Berdych might not play. He hasn’t played for them this year. Radek Stepanek too. So all that is good news.”
But Zeeshan said that this should leave no reason for complacency.
“They will still have Lukas Rosol and a couple of top-100 players. We should always prepare thinking that their best players will turn up. It is also possible that they may well turn up since it’s a crunch tie.”
The players, in recent years, have taken a liking for Bengaluru as a host city but the AITA statement mentioned the names of Delhi and Pune as the possible venues.
“We might be looking for something which is a bit hotter [than Bengaluru],” said Zeeshan. “Bangalore organises an amazing tie. So much so that even the foreigners like it here [laughs]. But we will have a clear picture in about two weeks. “We need to speak to the players, captain Anand [Amritraj], and AITA. Players’ availability matters too and we need to check if Leander [Paes] will be available.”
The following is the play-off draw released by ITF: |
India v Czech Republic |
Switzerland v the Netherlands |
Russia v Italy |
Uzbekistan v United States |
Colombia v Japan |
Dominican Republic v Germany |
Brazil v Croatia |
Poland v Slovakia |
