Finance
Rohan Bopanna ended his Davis Cup career on a high note, teaming up with Yuki Bhambri to defeat the Moroccan duo of Elliot Benchetrit-Younes Lalami Laaroussi 6-2, 6-1 in the World Group II doubles match here on Sunday.
Sumit Nagal, India’s top-ranked singles player, then defeated Yassine Dlimi 6-3, 6-3 to give India a commanding 4-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group II First Round match at the Vijayant Khand Mini Stadium in Gomti Nagar in Lucknow.
Digvijay Pratap Singh won the dead fifth match against Walid Ahouda 6-1, 5-7, 10-6 to seal India’s triumph.
With this win, India qualified for the 2024 World Group I Play-off.
However, the day belonged to Bopanna, who brought an end to his illustrious 21-year-long Davis Cup career with a cross-court drop shot.
The collaboration between Bopanna and Bhambri was at its peak. They outperformed the Moroccan duo. The opposing side had no response to Bopanna’s thunderous forehands.
The Indian pair knew they had the rubber in their grip after winning the first set 6-2.
Only the first game of the second set was won by Benchetrit and Laaroussi. Bopanna handled the volleys well, and Bhambri served well as well, giving little room for the opposition to reply.
Rohan Bopanna waved to the crowd and shook hands with every member of the Indian team as he walked around the court covered in an Indian flag, waving to supporters in every stand and blowing kisses.
Nagal, on the other hand, maintained his winning streak by defeating Dlimi 6-3, 6-3. Nagal was serving big, and way better than he served yesterday.
Dlimi threatened a comeback in the first set after winning the first game, despite Nagal leading 40-0. The game went into deuce, but the Indian was able to wiggle out of it, leveling the scores at 1-1.
In the third game, Nagal broke Dlimi’s serve to take a 2-1 lead. He broke Dlimi yet again in the ninth game to take the set 6-3.
Nagal broke him again in the second game of the second set to go up 2-0. But Nagal’s one break in the second set was enough for him to cruise to a comfortable victory.
