Davis Cup: Players failed to seize opportunities against Italy, says Mahesh Bhupathi

Indian captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Friday ruled that his men failed to seize the opportunities against a much higher-ranked Italy, which raced to a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Davis Cup Qualifier.

The big-serving Ramkumar Ramanathan got a break point in his very second game after he was leading 1-0 but the world number 37 Andreas Seppi used all his experience to hold his serve.

Then again in the eighth game with Ramkumar leading 4-3, Seppi fended off another break before switching gears to wrap the set 6-4 and the second set turned out to be a formality with the Indian proving no match.

Italy in front!

Mateo Berrettini seals a lead for Italy 64 63.

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— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 1, 2019

"When you are playing players, who have so much experience and are used to playing at a level, you have to take your chances," he said of Ramkumar, who went on the defensive despite being in an advantageous position.

"I am a firm believer that if you take your chances, you will get rewarded. That's where the momentum swung." Bhupathi admitted that his players were under pressure, something that top singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran also echoed.

"We understand the pressure that comes with playing for the country. The job of everybody on the team is to keep all of us relaxed while at the same time we want to win." Prajnesh on his part said: "Nerves and tension got to me. It's a learning experience for me. I gave my best, Seppi was better today. He deserved to win." Prajnesh, who is enjoying a career-high singles ranking of 102, said he became jittery when he failed to break after being 4-3 up.

"That (failing to break) put a lot of pressure on me because he is a good frontrunner and has a very good serve. He used that to his advantage. I think he played more aggressive than I did and that worked well for him," he said after losing to Berrettini for the second time since Chengdu ATP last year.

Grass tennis at its finest...#DavisCupQualifiers #INDITA pic.twitter.com/XUwW5ppYdO

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 1, 2019

After winning the debut match in Davis Cup Matteo Berrettini said, “I was dreaming about this as a child. I was really happy and focused on the match. I’m really enjoying the moment and I’m glad it went my way."

Last year, India bounced back to defeat China 3-2 from a similar situation and Bhupathi is expecting a repeat show from his men starting with doubles pair of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan. Bhupathi said, “Focus is on tomorrow. We know we have a job at hand. It will be a lot harder. No time to give up now.”

For Italy, top-ranked singles player Marco Cecchinato was paired with Simone Bolelli in the doubles.