India vs Netherlands Davis Cup Qualifiers: Home Advantage in Focus in Bengaluru

The draw for the tie, unveiled in the presence of the chairman of the organising committee, Priyank Kharge, Minister of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj of Karnataka and Anil Dhupar, AITA General Secretary, set up the stage for two exciting days of tennis action on Friday.

The match between Indian Olympian Sumit Nagal and Guy Den Ouden will be followed by another singles contest between Dhakshineswar Suresh and Jesper de Jong to conclude the first day.

Referring to the home conditions as more of an advantage than a pressure factor, Nagal commented, "Home advantage exists in any sport. In tennis, for example, when I played at the Olympics, I had five people cheering for me in front of 7,000 French supporters."

"Obviously, when you are playing in such conditions for three to four hours, it makes a huge difference. We are hoping that the Netherlands players experience the same thing tomorrow, and that we can make it happen for however long they are on court," he further added.

The second day will witness a high-profile doubles clash, with the Indian pair of N. Sriram Balaji and Yuki Bhambri taking on Sander Arends and David Pel. The remaining two singles matches will see Sumit Nagal face Jesper de Jong, followed by Dhakshineswar Suresh taking on Guy den Ouden.

Stressing the importance of team effort in boosting their chances of success, Dhakshineswar said, "It's a team effort here. Everyone is putting in the same amount of work: people off the court, on the court, and those cheering for us from home or in the stadium. It's not just one guy carrying the team."

One of the major highlights of the draw was the replacement of Ritwik Choudary with N. Sriram Balaji in the men's doubles pairing. Explaining the decision, Captain Rohit Rajpal said, "We felt that Bala has been playing tournaments back-to-back. He just played in Bahrain, had a very good result, and then came here. Ritwik has also been playing very well, so it was a difficult decision."

Wishing the Indian team ahead of the crucial tie, Priyank Kharge said, "It's great to see Bengaluru hosting an international event of this stature once again. Davis Cup always brings a special energy, and I wish India the very best for the matches over the next two days."

Netherlands captain Paul Haarhuis, who was also part of the Davis Cup tie against India in Jaipur in 1996, said, "Our women's team recently played the Billie Jean King Cup here, so I spoke to them to understand the conditions better. We've been in Bengaluru for almost three weeks now, and I've played here before as well. It's a great city and a fantastic venue, and we're really looking forward to playing in front of the crowd."

- ANI