Davis Cup: Sumit Nagal seals great win over Switzerland

bombay: sledding through and through a long tunnel of gloominess in singles, native american tennis found a rare spark in the rustic old Swiss town of Biel. Driven by its singles show for a change, it’s here that an inspired Indian team completed a 3-1 upset win over ninth seeds Switzerland in their own backyard, and on indoor hard court, in the Davis Cup World Group I tie.

Not since 1993, when Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes took India to a 3-2 win over France in Cannes, has an Indian team beaten a European side away from home in Davis Cup. That win came in the World Group quarter-final, while this win ensures India will be bumped up to the World Group Qualifiers next year.

If the foundation of this Swiss stunner was laid by debutant Dhakshineswar Suresh and comeback man Sumit Nagal beating higher-ranked players for a 2-0 lead on Friday, the finishing touch was fittingly applied with another singles win on Saturday. After N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli lost 7-6(3), 4-6, 5-7 to Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker in doubles, Nagal beat 2025 Australian Open junior champion Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3, taking India where it had not gone in over three decades.

“Certainly, this is huge, beating a European country away after so long,” India captain Rohit Rajpal told HT from Biel.

“This is also a big shot in the arm for Indian tennis. It’s important that the boys start to believe that they can beat such teams. We need to do much more (to get Indian tennis back up), but we’re on our way.”

Rajpal made an inspiring selection in Suresh, plucking the 25-year-old out of the reserves and placing him first up for the tie. The 626th-ranked Indian shocked world No.155 Jerome Kym, who made the third round of this US Open, 7-6(4), 6-3.

Suresh, playing collegiate tennis in the USA for Wake Forest University and in good form, shaped Rajpal’s “vision” to take on the Swiss on their indoor courts. Around two months ago, Rajpal reached out to Suresh. It needed some convincing for his college authorities and the Indian ministry’s help in visa formalities for the out-of-the-box pick to get to Biel from Atlanta last Sunday.

During India’s practice sets through the week, the 6’5” big-server reiterated the captain’s gut. And so Suresh was fielded over higher-ranked players in the squad comprising young Aryan Shah and Karan Singh.

“For indoor, I needed a big guy with a big game and a big serve,” said Rajpal. “Once he gets to the net, it’s not easy to pass a 6’5’’ guy. The idea was to put in a guy who had a big serve and would mix it up.

“The only thing was that he was ranked in the 600s and had never played Davis Cup for India. But that was a chance I wanted to take.”

The debutant, who admitted after his match on Friday that he was a bit nervous, stuck to his strengths. “I told him, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take full responsibility. Just execute the plan, focus, stay relaxed and play to your potential’,” said Rajpal.

While the Suresh gamble got India off the blocks, the Nagal comeback helped solidify and cross the finish line.

Nagal, the top-100 pro of last year who remains India’s No.1 in singles at 290, returned to the Davis Cup fold after 2023 and walked away with two wins. He beat 222nd-ranked Marc-Andrea Huesler on Friday and the promising teen Bernet, who replaced Kym in the reverse singles, in straight sets.

“It’s been a while since we won in Europe,” said Nagal. “We worked very hard to be here.”

Nagal had remained absent from India’s recent Davis Cup ties. “It is great to have Sumit back, no two ways about that,” said Rajpal. “He’s a tough grinder, and anybody on the other side has to do a lot to beat him.”

Rajpal hopes this rare and memorable win, after a string of losses away from home to higher-ranked teams, inspires the younger players in the setup.

“We are in a transition period. That’s why I took a larger squad, so that guys like Aryan and Karan and the other young guys see this, and take confidence from it.”

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