Tennis, Davis Cup: Balaji, Ramkumar named to play singles, doubles matches against Sweden

India have named N Sriram Balaji and Ramkumar Ramanathan to play the singles and doubles matches in their Davis Cup World Group 1 first round tie against Sweden.

Two singles matches will be played on Saturday at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm with the doubles match being played on Sunday followed by the reverse singles matches.

In a surprising pick, India have not fielded any of the other three players who have been named for the Sweden tie.

The decision to play Balaji is a curious one considering he has not played on the regular tour since 2022. He did play against and beat Aqeel Khan in India’s Davis Cup tie early this year.

Balaji has been a doubles specialist and partnered Rohan Bopanna in the men’s doubles event at the Paris Olympics.

According to captain Rohit Rajpal, the two players were selected because of their ability to serve big and their forte for net play. However, the Indian strategy of playing Balaji and Ramkumar in the doubles tie on Sunday may change depending on the results on Saturday.

“There’s a lot of pressure on Sweden because it’s a home tie for them,” said Rajpal in a media interaction on Thursday.

“Therefore, we are hoping to add to that pressure. I’ve...

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