Davis Cup | India lags behind Canada in the best of five as Australia leads Belgium in the doubles tie
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India’s pair of Rohan Bopanna and Purav Raja went down to Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil as Canada lead ahead of the singles match wrap-up on Sunday. John Peers and Jordan Thompson ousted Belgian Ruben Bemelmans and Arthur De Greef to get Australia closer to first Cup final appearance since 2003.
Rohan Bopanna came to the tournament at 19th place and Purav Raja in 56Â but they were outclassed by the pair of Daniel Nestor (43) and Pospisil (111). Experience clearly played the upper hand in the game as the Indian pair lost 7-5, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, giving Canada a resounding 2-1 lead in its best-of-five tie.
45-year-old Nestor was playing his 51st Davis Cup match with a 32-11 doubles record. When paired with Pospisil in doubles on the Davis Cup stage, the duo now holds a 6-4 record.
Canada will have the singles game next and their emerging ace Denis Shapovalov holds huge confidence under Canada skipper Martin Laurendeau. He said, “We have one more point to win and the focus is on Denis right now because he is first up. He's in a good place after doing his job as the No. 1 and getting a win.”
Ranked 51 in the singles category, Shapovalov had a brilliant five-set win over India’s Yuki Bhambri (157th) on Friday, which lasted for a whopping four hours. He will now face Ramkumar Ramanathan (154th), who has given India the only point with a 3-1 win over Canada's Brayden Schnur (202). Schnur and Bhambri are also scheduled to play in the second singles match.
India, who entered the tournament from the 18 place,
Australia’s doubles pair John Peers and Jordan Thompson had little problems overcoming Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and Arthur De Greef, as they won 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 in just 90 minutes. The win puts Australia on the brink of making their first Davis Cup final appearance since 2003 as a win for either Nick Kyrgios or John Millman in the next singles event will be enough to secure them the decider’s spot.
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