After India's shocking loss in the doubles contest against New Zealand on Saturday, the reverse singles players were under pressure to deliver on Day 3. Ramkumar Ramanathan, who had won the second singles match on Friday, defeated Finn Tearney in straight sets 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 at Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group 1 match at the Balewadi Sports Complex in Pune on Sunday. Yuki Bhambri also defeated Jose Statham in the dead rubber to make it 4-1 for India, and end the day on a high.
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Ramanathan knew his opponent Tearney would come down hard on him and the New Zealand player looked ready early into the opening set. Both players were aware of the importance of bagging the opening set, and were not giving away easy points.
However, Ramanathan, with huge ground support to boot, held his nerve to clinch the first set at 7-5. There was an air of confidence in Ramanathan's play after winning the first set. The Indian did not break much sweat to win the second set at 6-1.
Ramanathan looked in ominous form when it came to the third set, and clinched the set 6-0.
Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan, India's doubles pair, must have been pleased to see Ramanathan clinch the reverse singles as it was their loss, which had put India under pressure on Sunday.
In the dead rubber, Bhambri came from behind to win the match 7-5, 3-6, 6-4.
Here's a look back at what happened in the first two days of the Davis Cup tie:
Day 1
India started the opening day of the Davis Cup sprightly, with both Bhambri and Ramkumar winning their respective matches. Bhambri looked calm and composed in his tie against New Zealand's number 1 Finn Tearney. The Indian star won the match in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Ramkumar also dominated his opening match against Jose Statham to finish off India's day on a high. Ramkumar won 6-3, 6-4, 6-3.
With this, India took a healthy 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Davis Cup in Pune.
Day 2
With a healthy 2-0 lead, India just had to win the doubles tie to advance to the next round. India fielded Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan against New Zealand's Artem Sitak and Michael Venus in the doubles match. Though India was the favourites leading up to the match, the pair failed to live up to the expectations.
Paes and Vardhan looked good in the opening set, but that was it. New Zealand crawled back into the game with Sitak and Venus dominating the Indian pair. Despite the vast experience of Paes, the New Zealand players managed to stun the home team and win the tie in four sets. The score read 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-3. The overall tie stood at 2-1 in favour of India.
