Biel, Switzerland — Dhakshineshwar Suresh, a teenage tennis player making his tournament debut, shocked everyone by beating the higher-ranked Jerome Kym in India’s Davis Cup World Group I encounter against Switzerland. Suresh’s win put India up 1-0, proving Captain Rohit Rajpal right for putting him in front of the more experienced Aryan Shah.
Suresh, who is ranked 626th in the world, played quite well against the Swiss player, who is placed 471 ranks higher than him. The 25-year-old from Chennai won convincingly, 7-6 (4) and 6-3, showing a level of play that didn’t match his low rating.
Dhakshineshwar said after the match, “I just stayed calm and played my game, no matter what.” “There was a lot of pressure because it was my first time going for my country.” I think I did a good job at it. “I played with my strength,” he said, giving credit to his strong serve for getting him out of tough situations.
From the start, both players handled their serves with confidence. Dhakshineshwar relied on his strong delivery. In the fourth and sixth games, he was under a lot of pressure, but he was able to preserve three break points with a mix of hard serves and good groundstrokes. The Indian’s plan to charge the net after watching his opponent play turned out to be quite important in the match. Dhakshineshwar won the first set in a tie-breaker with an aggressive forehand and a well-placed backhand lob.
Suresh kept winning in the second set, saving two more break opportunities in the fifth game. He had another problem while serving for the match at 4-3, but he used a sequence of “bazooka serves” to keep Kym at bay. He then broke Kym’s serve at love to take a strong 5-3 lead. He then served out the match with an ace, giving his country a memorable win.
India is in a good position going into the second singles match, where Sumit Nagal, who is ranked 290th, will play Marc-Andrea Huesler, who is ranked 68th. After a two-year break since the 2023 tie against Morocco, Nagal is back in the Davis Cup.