This is Bur Best Chance to Beat Italy, Says Bhupathi

Davis Cup

Kolkata: Davis Cup non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Thursday said this will be India's best chance to beat Italy in the qualifiers for the finals as they are playing on grass.

India has had a recent spate of positive results on grass and Bhupathi feels that will hold them in good stead in the two-day tie beginning on February 1 at the South Club. "It's the best chance we have. That's why we chose grass," Bhupathi told reporters on the sidelines of the Premjit Lall Invitational Tennis tournament at the Jaidip Mukerjea Tennis Academy here.

"Now the team we have, grass suits lot of the players and we are happy to be back," said Bhupathi.

Ramkumar Ramanathan finished as the runner-up in his first final on the ATP World Tour, a grass court tournament in Newport earlier this year while Prajnesh stunned World No. 23 Dennis Shapovalov on grass in the opening round of the Stuttgart Open.

The Italians, led by world No 13 Fabio Fognini are superior to India on hard and clay courts but India would be looking to repeat their 1985 heroics when they got the better of Italy in the World Group first round here.

Asked about the new Davis Cup format consisting of a six-player squad playing three-set matches over two days, Bhupathi said: "The format is altered so regardless of what anybody says, it is what it is today.

"As captain I take the rules and our team tries to win by the rules, that is the bottomline."

The premier team competition in men's tennis will return to the South Club after a gap of 16 years and Bhupathi said he made his debut here and therefore it is always special to be back. IANS

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