Biel: Sumit Nagal sealed the deal for India as he beat teenager Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3 in the decisive fourth rubber for a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the Davis Cup World Group I tie on the indoor hard court in Biel on Saturday.
The victory, India’s first on European soil since 1993, means India will play in next year’s Qualifiers.
Nagal had closed the first day for India at 2-0 after Dhakshineswar Suresh gave a dream start by beating the Swiss No.1 Jerome Kym in straight sets.
However, on the second day, Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker beat N. Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5 in a gripping doubles rubber.
For the first reverse singles, the Swiss replaced their No.1 Kym with 18-year-old Bernet, who had won the Australian Open junior singles title this year. However, by the time the youngster settled to play his fluent game, hitting single-handed backhands with a flourish, and running like a rabbit all over the court, Nagal had tightened his grip on the match.
“It has been a while for us to win in Europe. We all pushed each other a lot in the team. We are happy with the win. The doubles was tough. The level was very high. I was sweating more, watching the match from the sidelines. When I had to play the young guy, I knew he was good. Young ones are always tricky as you don’t know how they play. I was happy with the way I played the match,” said Nagal.
The Indian pair could have won the doubles but at 4-4 in the second set, after having won the first, Balaji and Rithvik failed to convert three breakpoints in the ninth game on Paul’s serve. Quite significantly, Rithvik dropped serve at love in the 10th game.
In the decider, the Indian pair went up 3-1 but Balaji’s serve got broken in the sixth game. Serving to stay in the match at 5-6, Rithvik dropped serve at love, to give what proved to be a face saving point for the Swiss on their home soil. Agencies
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