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Tag: india vs finland davis cup

  • Davis Cup: Bopanna, Ramkumar lose in must-win match; India lose tie to Finland

    Rohan Bopanna and Ramkumar Ramanathan blew away their probabilities within the must-win doubles match as India misplaced the World Group I tie to Finland after conceding an unassailable 0-3 lead, right here on Saturday.
    Captain Rohit Rajpal modified the doubles mixture on the final minute by pairing Bopanna with Ramkumar as an alternative of left-handed Divij Sharan however nothing helped as they misplaced the essential match 6-7(2) 6-7(2) to Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara in a single hour and 38 minutes.

    🇫🇮 3️⃣-0️⃣ 🇮🇳
    Suomi voittaa maaottelun Kontinen/Heliövaara vietyä nelinpelin 7-6(2), 7-6(2)!
    Kiitos yleisö kannustuksesta, yhdessä enemmän – yhdessä menestyen! pic.twitter.com/cxl0uwRPTX
    — Suomen Tennisliitto (@tennisfi) September 18, 2021
    Both Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar had misplaced their singles matches on Friday and to remain alive within the tie, the Indians wanted to win the doubles.
    The reverse singles have now been rendered inconsequential.
    Heliovaara was thought-about probably the most weak of all 4 gamers on the court docket however he raised his recreation by a number of notches and created a big impact on the end result of the match along with his fearless method.
    The Indian, quite the opposite, fumbled even once they had benefit as they squandered as many as 4 breakpoints within the eight-game of the second set when successful that recreation may have given them the prospect to place the hosts underneath the pump.
    After doing all of the laborious work, the Indians cracked at essential junctures.
    At 3-3, the Indian pair attacked the serve of Heliovaara, going 30-all however the house participant served large on the following two factors to make sure the set stays on serve.
    Eventually, the opening set went to tie-breaker. Heliovaara discovered a shocking service return winner off Bopanna on the second level to get the mini-break and in addition held his function Finland took a 4-1 lead.
    Then got here Ramkumar’s double fault and a volley error on the web that gave Finland gamers 5 set factors. They transformed the second when Ramkumar couldn’t return Kontinen’s serve.
    A forehand winner by Ramkumar at 30-all within the second recreation of the second set, arrange the primary break likelihood for India and so they transformed when Kontinen couldn’t return Bopanna’s backhand.
    However, the big-serving Bopanna dropped his personal serve within the subsequent recreation when he made consecutive unforced errors.
    Bopanna’s serve once more got here underneath assault however he managed to carry after taking place to deuce factors from 40-15 as India led 4-3.
    In the following recreation, the Indians went up 40-0 on Heliovaara’s serve however blew away all three breakpoints and later yet another to let the rivals maintain for a 4-4 scoreline.
    Another tie-breaker adopted. Helovaara pulled of a sensational forehand winner at 5-2 to get to first match level and it was throughout for India when Ramkumar couldn’t return the ball within the subsequent level.

  • Davis Cup: Finland’s Ruusuvuori, Virtanen give hosts 2-0 lead towards India

    There was no urgency in his stroll to the baseline. No signal of fear both when he was dealing with a set level – as a substitute there was a wry smile on Otto Virtanen’s face. His motion, even throughout lengthy rallies, was languid. He wore a baseball cap backwards so as to add to the nonchalant manner. He was the underdog, with nothing to lose.
    Ranked 419 on the planet, up towards World No 165 Prajnesh Gunneswaran, Virtanen was enjoying the opening match for Finland within the World Group 1 Davis Cup tie towards the Indians. Serving at 5-6, 30-40 – set level for Prajnesh – within the second set, Virtanen, with the identical air of nonchalance, walked to the baseline and hammered down his ninth ace of the match. A couple of minutes later, he closed out the match for a shock 6-3, 7-6(1) win.
    A few hours later, Emil Ruusuvuori made it 2-0 for the hosts with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Ramkumar Ramanathan.

    ????2???0??????@EmilRuusuvuori closes out Ramanathan 6-4 7-5 to make it two-for-two for the hosts towards India!#DavisCup pic.twitter.com/DjRbRAiJ2d
    — Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 17, 2021
    In their first-ever tie towards the Finland within the Davis Cup, India was handed a troublesome problem on the Espoo Metro Areena, round 30 km from Helsinki. The hosts have World No. 74 Ruusuvuori, the highest-ranked singles participant within the tie. So, the guests have been concentrating on 20-year-old Virtanen, enjoying in solely his second Davis Cup tie, for 2 out of the three factors they should advance.
    It additionally helped the Indian trigger that their No. 1 would play Virtanen first within the hope {that a} win may put scoreboard stress on 22-year-old Ruusuvuori within the second match.
    But the aggressive teen, the son of former Finnish Davis Cup participant Pasi Virtanen, got here up with an early shock. He broke Prajnesh’s serve within the sixth recreation of the match and by no means let go of the lead thereon. It was the one break of the match, however Virtanen did have one other seven alternatives to interrupt serve once more. Five of these have been saved when Prajnesh was serving at 4-4 within the second set.
    Rising to the event
    On his personal serve, Virtanen confronted simply two break factors –saving each, together with the large flat ace large when dealing with set level.
    “It was a combination of him coming up with the goods in the big moments, and me not doing enough,” says Prajnesh after the match.
    “It was a pretty good match from Otto. He served pretty well today, didn’t give away any free points. Played pretty well when he had the lead.”
    India did have a slight benefit from the draw with Prajnesh enjoying first. But they have been all the time operating the chance of the left-hander not being at his greatest. The 31-year-old from Chennai has struggled with wrist accidents all through this season, and it has affected his type as effectively.
    “I’m not playing my sharpest, considering the fact that I’ve had injuries and not played too much. But every player goes through that at some point. That’s not an excuse for not being able to find a way today,” he says.

    Photos from the observe session right now morning that includes Ramkumar Ramanathan and Saketh Myneni
    Photos courtesy @siyer30 sir / @TennisFi pic.twitter.com/SAZWb4kNC8
    — Indian Tennis Daily (@IndTennisDaily) September 17, 2021
    “I didn’t do what I needed to today. Few loose games here and there. I feel like I didn’t convert on some of the close situations.”
    Virtanen although, held his personal moderately effectively. He had a 73 p.c first serve share (55/75) – together with 10 aces – in comparison with Prajnesh’s 58 p.c (40/69). His service remained unbroken all through the match, together with the tie-breaker he went on to win 7-1 – the place Prajnesh dedicated 4 unforced errors.
    In solely his third Davis Cup match, the teen from Hyvinkaa has picked up the most important win in his profession over a participant as soon as ranked as excessive as 75 on the planet.
    Ruusuvuori makes it 2-0
    Ruusuvuori in the meantime held off Ramkumar within the first set that noticed each gamers wrestle to search out their vary. They traded breaks early, earlier than Ruusuvuori managed to get the decisive break within the tenth recreation of the set to go 6-4.
    They began to carry their serves higher within the second set, however Ramkumar, serving second, was once more damaged on the most important stage within the match. Ruusuvuori dispatched a backhand-down-the-line return winner to earn the one break within the second set to assert it 7-5 and provides Finland a 2-0 lead.
    On Saturday, the veteran duo of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan will begin proceedings in the one doubles match of the tie towards Henri Kontinen and Harri Heliovaara.