Ahead of India vs Denmark’s much-awaited Davis Cup tie which is to take place in New Delhi on the 4th and 5th March, Davis Cup Indian team Captain, Rohit Rajpal, Davis Cup Indian team Coach, Zeeshan Ali along with tournament director Aditya Khanna and former players Prerna Bhambri, Vishal Uppal and Vivek Shokeen launched the official hashtag of the tournament #TennisKaDumIndiaHainHum with Indian sports fans who joined from all across the world. The Davis Cup India team Captain, Coach and tournament Director launched the hashtag on the inauguration of the Davis Cup Virtual Fan Lounge.
Speaking at the launch event of Davis Cup Virtual Fan Lounge and #TennisKaDumIndiaHainHum, Zeeshan Ali, Coach of the Indian Team said, “Fan Lounge is a great initiative which will not only motivate the Indian team but will also fill aspiring athletes with confidence. The support that our players are getting today from Indian Sports Fans is remarkable and makes the Indian team even stronger for their match against Denmark. With this initiative to connect with the fans, the youth will now want to become a tennis player and look up to the sport of tennis apart from Cricket or football. As our hashtag says, #TenniskaDumIndiaHainHum, we too are all set to prove our mettle in the Davis Cup tie.”
Rohit Rajpal, Captain of the Indian Davis Cup team remarked about the initiative, “This is a brilliant initiative as this will bridge the gap between the fans and the tennis players, especially youth. This will not only maximize the reach of India’s Davis Cup’s tie against Denmark but will also garner maximum support from fans across the world for team India further strengthening them for their tie at the Davis Cup.”
Speaking on the preparations of team India ahead of the India-Denmark clash, Rohit Rajpal said, “We got lucky that there are no other tournaments right before the Davis Cup so that we could host the camp where we have invited three reserve players and also two junior players. We have a good team with the best players in India and this should be a good tie in our favor.”
“We have Ram, who is our No. 1 singles player and won his first challenger recently. We also paired Ram and Rohan as a doubles pair in Finland to capitalize on their big serves. They further played together in Pune, winning the prestigious ATP 250 event, so they will have a lot of confidence going into the tie.” Rohit added. The captain also said that he is positive about the rest of the team members as well, naming Yuki Bhambri as a huge asset, provided he remains injury-free.
On the topic of the camp organized by the Committee, the team said they are also making sure to look to the future – having invited four of the ‘Next Gen’ Indian players, in a bid to inspire and motivate them by having them train with the seasoned professionals. The purpose of the camp is to focus on practising on grass and adjust their games to the fast surface that is not as prevalent anymore.
In spite of the relative advantage the Indian players have playing on the grass, Rohit Rajpal and Zeeshan Ali are not taking the Denmark team lightly. “Their captain won doubles at Wimbledon- you don’t achieve that without being good on grass,” said Rohit. “I’m sure they will also prepare more on the surface. We won’t have any easy teams in the World round, definitely. The Denmark boys are playing every week on hard courts all over the world- they are used to playing in different venues and adjusting their games. They have great players and also a player in the top 100, Holger Rune. Having said all this, what we mean when we say we have a relative advantage is that if they had a choice, they would play us on hard or clay courts. You can’t teach someone to play on grass in 10 days,” he added.
Team India is all set to face Team Denmark in the Davis Cup match tie that will be played at the Delhi Gymkhana Club on the 4th and 5th of March.
