Nagal pulls out of Davis Cup tie, Myneni replaces him in India squad

Nagal,
who
had
lost
in
the
first
round
of
the
US
Open
Qualifiers,
communicated
to
the
national
tennis
federation
AITA
on
Saturday
that
doctors
have
advised
him
not
to
play
on
the
hard
courts.

Non-playing
captain
Rohit
Rajpal
and
chairman
of
the
selection
committee,
Nandan
Bal
then
discussed
the
replacement
and
agreed
upon
the
name
of
Myneni,
who
last
played
for
India
in
2018
in
the
World
Group
Play-off
tie
against
Serbia.

“Sumit
Nagal
has
written
to
us
that
he
can’t
play
this
Davis
Cup
tie
due
to
a
hip
injury
he
sustained
after
the
US
Open
qualifiers.
Myneni
can
play
both
singles
and
doubles,
so
he
has
been
added
to
the
squad,”
All
India
Tennis
Association
(AITA)
Secretary
General
Anil
Dhupar
told
PTI.

Myneni
has
played
six
Davis
Cup
ties
for
India
in
eight
nominations.
He
was
part
of
the
Indian
squad
that
beat
Pakistan
in
Kazakhstan
in
2019
but
did
not
get
to
play
any
match.

“I
did
not
get
to
play
tournaments
since
April.
I
could
not
get
a
visa
to
play
in
the
USA
also.
But
I
have
been
training
and
playing
practice
matches
all
these
months.
It’s
good
to
be
back
in
the
team,”
Myneni
told
PTI.

“I
just
have
to
be
ready
for
my
chance.
I
have
done
it
in
the
past.
I
will
help
the
team
prepare
well.
Overall,
I
feel
good
about
my
game
but
the
match
sharpness
may
not
be
at
the
same
level.”
Nandan
Bal
said
Myneni
was
best
option.

“Saketh
was
unanimous
choice
to
replace
Sumit
under
the
circumstances
when
matches
are
going
to
be
on
fast
hard
courts.
He
has
been
around
for
along
time
and
knows
what
it
takes
to
perform
at
that
level.
You
can
use
him
for
both
singles
and
doubles
matches.
He
is
a
good
team
man,”
Bal
said.

Ideally
a
six-player
squad
would
have
been
ideal
for
variety
in
hitting
partners
but
Nandan
Bal
reckons
it
should
not
be
an
issue.
“In
pre-Davis
Cup
camp,
the
practice
sessions
are
more
of
tactical
than
technical.
These
camps
are
about
sharpening
the
players
for
match-play.
I
don’t
see
any
issue,
plus
Rohan
and
Divij
can
pitch
in.

“These
are
not
going
to
be
six
or
eight
hour
sessions
where
you
are
getting
them
conditioned
physically.
These
are
to
get
them
used
to
conditions,
and
ambience
and
basically
to
make
them
match-sharp,”
he
added.

Myneni
is
ranked
577
and
two
Indian
players
—
Sasikumar
Mukund
(321)
and
Siddarth
Rawat
(555)
—
are
ranked
above
him
but
made
the
cut.
Mukund
had
not
made
himself
available
for
national
selection
before
the
Davis
Cup
team
was
announced,
saying
he
had
committed
himself
to
play
European
circuit.

Rawat
is
placed
higher
but
Myneni
was
preferred
because
the
tall
Andhra
Pradesh
player
can
play
both
the
formats
if
need
arises
and
also
that
he
already
possess
a
Schengen
visa.
Procuring
visa
could
have
been
difficult
at
a
short
notice
for
Rawat
when
the
team
is
set
to
leave
for
Finland
on
September
8.

Myneni
thus
joins,
Prajnesh
Gunneswaran
(156),
Ramkumar
Ramanathan
(204),
Rohan
Bopanna
(46
in
doubles)
and
Divij
Sharan
(83
in
doubles)
in
the
team
that
will
take
on
host
at
indoor
hard
courts.

The
winner
of
the
tie
will
make
it
to
the
Qualifiers
while
the
loser
will
fight
in
the
World
Group
I
Play-offs
in
the
2022
season.
Finland
have
one
higher-ranked
singles
player
in
Emil
Ruusuvuori,
who
is
placed
76th
in
the
ATP
chart,
while
India
do
not
have
a
player
inside
top-100.

Finland
also
has
two
decent
doubles
players
in
Henri
Kontinen
and
Harri
Heliovaara,
who
are
ranked
44th
and
76th
respectively.