India will be without their highest-ranked singles and doubles players, Sumit Nagal and Yuki Bhambri, respectively, for the Davis Cup 2025 World Group I play-off tie against Togo scheduled on February 1-2. The duo have made themselves unavailable because of some dispute with the administrators. Team India captain Rohit Rajpal admitted the duo has grievances with the All India Tennis Association (AITA) and hoped they will return to action soon. “Yuki and Sumit both have played for the country. They have some grievances with, I think, a couple of people in AITA, which need to be sorted. We are working towards it. But I still believe that you know, from my captain, Vijay Amritraj, our values that we passed on to the generations and that were passed on to me is that, you know, your nation comes first.

“There are no conditions that you put on playing for your country. No matter what it is, you drop everything and you come and play for your country. That’s what I expect from my players, and that’s what my seniors taught me as well. So those values need to be instilled. We need to get these boys back, playing for us. And I’m hopeful that the boys will be coming back to the team,” Rajpal told IANS.

The Davis Cup squad to play Togo comprises five members — Sasikumar Mukund, Ramkumar Ramanathan, Karan Singh, N.Sriram Balaji, and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli. Alongside, Aryah Shah, Chirag Duhan, and Yuvaan Nandal have been added to the squad. They will be training along with the Indian team and it will be a great exposure for each of them.

Rajpal went on to point out the importance of grooming youngsters alongside preparing the team to the best of his ability.

“That’s very important for us to do. We’re doing it very consciously. You know, a lot of our players are turning to doubles. They’re also ageing. So we definitely need the next batch now coming and knocking on the doors. It’s very important because every good player does not make a good Davis Cup player.

“Davis Cup pressure is very, very different from playing for yourself on the tour. So the next batch of players where we have all these boys coming in, Aryan, Chirag, Yuvan, Manas, these are the future, I think, of Indian tennis.

“It’s important for them to practice in a Davis Cup atmosphere, sit on the bench, and understand and get conditioned to the pressures that Davis Cup brings to you. So, that’s what we’re doing at the moment, getting them this kind of exposure so that when they come on the court first time, they’re not new to this kind of pressure,” he added.

After spending 10 straight months in the top-100 in the ATP singles rankings, India’s Sumit Nagal on Monday dropped out of the much-desired bracket following a string of poor show while veteran Rohan Bopanna lost his place in top-20 due to an early exit from the Australian Open, where he was defending a lot of points. Nagal maintained his top-100 rank since March 2024 after first breaking into top-100 in February same year on the back of a good show at the first Major of the season.

However, he has lost 16 places to be at number 106 with 565 points in the latest chart.

The feisty tennis player has struggled on the demanding Tour, of late. Since Wimbledon 2024 in July, Nagal has competed in 18 tournaments managing to win only three main draw matches on the Tour and Challenger circuit.

A top-100 place helps in getting direct entries at the big events, including Grand Slams, where even defeat at early stage of the tournament also ensures a decent prize money.

Following Nagal was Sasikumar Mukund at number 365 ( 2), Ramkumar Ramanathan (406, -1), Karan Singh (496, -20) and Aryan Shah (593, -9).

In doubles, Bopanna, who is still playing solid tennis at the age of 44, lost five places to be at number 21. Being the Australian Open defending champion, Bopanna had to defend a lot of points in Melbourne, where he lost in the opening round with new partner Nicolas Barrientos.

Bopanna has featured in top-20 consistently since October 3, 2022.

Yuki Bhambri was unchanged at number 47 and following him was N Sriram Balaji (64, 1), Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli (79, -7) and Arjun Kadhe (83, 1).

Mukund, Ramkumar, Balaji Karan Singh and Bollipalli are part of the Indian Davis Cup squad that will take on Togo in the World Group I Play-off tie on February 1-2.

Nagal and Bhambri did not make themselves available for the match.

File image of Albano Olivetti and Yuki Bhambri.© AITA

File photo of Sumit Nagal© X (Twitter)

Sumit Nagal in action© AFP

The legendary Leander Paes on Wednesday lamented the decline of Indian tennis, describing it as part of the “circle of life” while emphasising the need for patience. The Indian team endured a 0-4 defeat against Sweden in its Davis Cup World Group I tie recently, which relegated them to the play-off stage for the upcoming year. “Like anything in life, when you go up, you have to come down, and then you come back up again. I am a big believer in the circle of life,” the former world No 1 in doubles said.

“I think we all need to have a little bit of patience as far as tennis goes. We have all enjoyed such an upswing over the last 40 years, proving that we can be number one in both women’s doubles and men’s doubles.” Currently, Sumit Nagal is the only Indian player in the top 100 of the ATP men’s singles rankings, positioned at 83, while Ramkumar Ramanathan follows at 332.

At 44 years, Rohan Bopanna remains the flag-bearer of men’s doubles in India, currently ranked sixth, with another veteran, Yuki Bhambri, at 43rd.

The WTA rankings reveal a grim situation for Indian women’s tennis, with no players in the top 200; Sahaja Yamalapalli is the highest-ranked Indian at 293.

The 51-year-old further highlighted the significant growth of tennis in India over the past four decades, noting its rise to become the second most popular sport after cricket.

“Over the four decades that I played, tennis grew in popularity so much that it became the number two sport in the country after cricket,” the winner of 18 Grand Slam titles said.

“At the international level, tennis was winning more Grand Slams and international events. Between Sania, Mahesh, Bopanna and me, we have collectively won close to 40 Grand Slam titles, along with Olympic medals and several Asian Games medals. Tennis saw a great period over about 40 years.

“A little bit of patience is needed; the circle of life is playing out. We will experience a slump, but we will rise again.

“The circle of life is evident in everything — business or otherwise. The greatest key to success is patience. I have no doubt that tennis will rise again to the top in India,” he added.

Sumit Nagal in action© AFP

Sumit Nagal in action© X (Twitter)

Sumit Nagal stuck to his strong baseline game but that didn’t seem to be enough against a mercurial Frenchman Corentin Moutet, who knocked out the Indian from the Paris Olympics with a stylish three-set win on Sunday. In his second appearance at the Olympic Games, Nagal bounced back after losing the first set but fell 2-6 6-4 5-7 in two hours and 28 minutes at a packed court number seven at Roland Garros. In the Tokyo Games, Nagal had lost in the second round to Russian Daniil Medvedev but he could not make the most of a manageable opener here. It has always been a battle of attrition between Nagal and Moutet with three of their last four outings being three-set affairs and it was no different on Sunday.

Nagal had got the better of Moutet in their last meeting in Grand Prix of Hassan in the Moroccan city of Marakkech in April this year.

Nagal didn’t seem to have a plan B but Moutet had a few tricks in his bag to unsettle his rival. He served underarm a number of times and used the drop shots, the forehand slice and the backhand slice very effectively.

The chants of Coco-Coco, Aaale-Aaale and Moutet-Moutet certainly gave the home player the energy required in such a slug-fest.

Nagal had a nervy start with a boisterous crowd behind Moutet. A drop volley error at 30-all put him down by a break point. Another unforced error cost him the opening game.

The French player began with an underarm serve, much to the amusement of the home fans. He, however, ended up serving a double fault. It was an easy hold for the southpaw even as Nagal also bounced back with a hold at love.

Moutet struggled a bit with his first serve but fed Nagal a lot of high balls and attached his backhand more to build on the break.

Nagal had his chances to get the break back in game four but squandered four break points.

He was down by another break point in game five but saved and held when Moutet just missed the line with his return. The crowd favourite again amused the gathered supporters as he crossed over the court to check the spot if the ball landed inside the line.

It was crucial for Nagal to hold serve after falling behind 2-4 but he erred on overhead volley at breakpoint.

Moutet pocketed the opening set when Nagal’a forehand return soared over the baseline.

The second set was not a one-way traffic with Nagal finding his rhythm. The free points were not given.

After playing two deuce points, Moutet again served underarm and this time got the point as Nagal netted the return. A furious Nagal pointed his finger in the sky but the crowd loved the moment.

Nagal finally had his first break of the match when Moutet’a dropped shot crashed into the net.

Before that on the second break point, when he netted the return, Nagal had banged his racquet on the court, letting go the frustration.

However, he gathered himself with the crucial break. The crowd stood and began singing the national anthem to egg on their favourite.

Nagal though consolidated the lead with a hold and levelled the match by breaking his rival in game eight when Moutet netted a volley return.

The French player yet again resorted to giving high balls and drop shots to Nagal to break the momentum and almost succeeded but Nagal too stuck to his guns, avoiding an early break.

He then broke Moutet when he double faulted while facing his fourth break point.

Leading 2-0 in the decider, Nagal had a perfect opportunity to run away with the match but found himself down 0-40. He saved the first breakpoint but a drive volley error from him meant that the the set was back on serve.

Serving at 5-5, Nagal began by netting a forehand and Moutet found a stunning forehand slice passing winner in the run.

Another forehand error put Nagal down by three break points. He lost fourth point in a row when he could not pick up a half volley.

It was not difficult from there for Moutet to close the match.

He will play either Australian world number six Alex di Minaur or Germany’s Jan-Lenard Struff next.

File image of Sumit Nagal.© X (Twitter)