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Davis Cup: India trails 0-2, contradictory reasons given about Nadal's absence

Ramkumar Ramanathan gave a real fight whereas Saketh Myneni failed to live up to the occassion.

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A gritty Ramkumar Ramanathan showed stomach for fight before Saketh Myneni had a taste of world class tennis as India trailed 0-2 after losing both the singles matches on the opening day of Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie against mighty Spain in New Delhi on Friday. 

Ramkumar, despite his limitations against a much-superior rival, fought his heart out in a 4-6 4-6 6-3 1-6 defeat to world number 26 Feliciano Lopez in the first match. Lopez played in place of originally nominated Rafael Nadal, who had a wrist injury problem. The whole build up to the tie was focused on Nadal as tennis fans hoped to see the 14-time Grand Slam champion in action. While Ramkumar's spirited response to the challenge kept the 4000-strong fans excited, Myneni was blown away by world number 13 David Ferrer, the 2013 French Open finalist.

A big serve, his biggest weapon, was nowhere to be seen as Myneni, who qualified for the US Open, melted in a 1-6 2-6 1-6 defeat against his Spanish rival. Ferrer returned the ball like a machine, literally toying with the Indian, ranked 137, in the one-hour 27-minute match. As Myneni struggled to cope with a super-fit Ferrer, getting on board became a mountainous task for the Indian. He managed to take just four games in the match. He committed as many as 28 unforced errors to 11 of Ferrer. The Spaniard won a total of 84 points to 46 of Myneni.

India need to win Saturday's doubles match to keep the tie alive against the five-time world champions Spain. It remains to be seen who Leander Paes plays with on Saturday.  At the draw, Paes and Myneni were nominated to play against Feliciano and Marc Lopez, the reigning French Open champions. If India win the doubles, 43-year-old Paes will become the most successful doubles player in Davis Cup history. He is tied on 42 wins with Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli, who also holds the record for most singles wins (78) in Davis Cup.

Ramkumar, egged on by the capacity crowd, gave his all but it was not enough to worry his mighty opponent.The packed stadium backed 203-ranked Ramkumar with the tunes of a band team and he certainly gave them a few moments to cheer and celebrate. There was no doubt about the superiority of left-handed Lopez as he controlled the proceedings with ease. Ramkumar did try to fight it out but the Spaniard always had the match in his iron grip. 

Why was Nadal absent? 

Rafael Nadal's decision to opt out of the opening match remained shrouded in mystery with Captain Conchita Martinez and Feliciano Lopez coming up with completely different versions.

While it was communicated to media minutes before the match that Nadal wont be able to play due to a stomach bug, Lopez said at the press conference that the 14-time Grand Slam champion had a wrist issue.

Later after the second singles, Conchita addressed the media and contradicted Lopez by saying that he indeed had a stomach bug.
"He had a stomach ache after lunch. He was not feeling too well and we didn't want to risk it. He is being taken care of by the doctor and it all depends on how he recovers. We will work with the doctor and only tomorrow we will know if he will be playing the doubles," Martinez told reporters.

After being pressed by media again, she said: "It was definitely stomach bug. Wrist has been an issue but it has been progressing well."

Earlier after the opening match, Lopez said that Nadal is still recovering from a wrist injury and was not completely sure of playing in the first match and that the team was aware of this development for the last week.
"We knew during the week that I might play the tie instead of Rafa as he was not 100 per cent sure if he will be up to for the tie. We spoke last night about it and till the last moment he was not 100 per cent sure. So I had an idea so it wasn't bothering me," said Lopez, who turned up in place of Nadal and defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-1 to give Spain 1-0 lead over India in World Group play-off.

 

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