Biel (Switzerland), Sep 13 (IANS) India made history in the Davis Cup on Saturday by defeating Switzerland 3-1 in a World Group 1 1st round match at the Swiss Tennis Arena here, registering their first win over a European country in Europe for the first time since 1993.
On Saturday, top singles player Sumit Nagal defeated Henry Bernet in the reverse singles 6-1, 6-3 to seal victory for India in the World Group 1 stage at the Swiss Tennis Arena in Biel, Switzerland.
With this, the current Indian team emulated the feat of a team comprising Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishnan, which beat France 3-2 in the quarterfinals. While India has now progressed to the World Group Qualifiers, he result relegated Switzerland to the Davis Cup 2026 World Group I play-offs.
The Indian team made further history as it has not won its World Group I ties since the Davis Cup format was revamped in 2019. India has finished runners-up on three occasions – in 1966, 1974, and 1987.
Youngster Dhakshineswar Suresh made a sensational debut by defeating the higher ranked Jerome Kym 7-6(5), 6-3 in the opening match on Friday, and Nagal completed a dominant day for the visitors as he overcame Marc-Andrea Huesler 8-3, 7-6(1) in the second rubber of the day and gave India a 2-0 lead after the opening singles.
Though the hosts fought back by winning the men’s doubles clash as Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker defeated N. Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli in a hard-fought encounter, coming back from a set deficit to win 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5 to make it 1-2 for the hosts.
The Indian tennis players made a good start and took the opening set after a tie-break. However, they lost the next set after being broken in the 10th game of the second. The third set saw N Sriram Balaji-Rithvik Bollipalli break the Swiss duo in the third game but lose serve in the sixth and 12th, succumbing to defeat in two hours and 21 minutes.
Their hopes of making a full recovery in the tie depended on the singles match between Nagal andHenry Bernet, and the Indian did not give him many chances as he won the match to seal victory for India. Sumit Nagal, though, made light work of the 18-year-old Swiss tennis player, breaking him thrice in the opening set and once in the second to win the match 6-1, 6-3, and sealed the tie in India’s favour.
The 13 winning nations from the World Group I ties will compete in the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers. The losing nations will compete in the 2026 World Group I Play-offs.
–IANS
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