Davis Cup, IND vs PAK: Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni’s straight-sets doubles win seals India’s promotion

India capped off their first visit to Pakistan for a Davis Cup tie in 60 years with an eighth consecutive win over their neighbours in the team competition, ensuring promotion to the World Group 1. Entering the day with a 2-0 lead, Yuki Bhambri and Saketh Myneni defeated Muzammil Murtaza and Aqeel Khan in the doubles rubber to seal the playoff tie. Later, debutant Niki Poonacha beat Muhammad Shoaib in a dead rubber, as India completed a 4-0 win in Islamabad on Sunday.

Despite being without their top singles players, receiving the heavy attention that any sporting tie between India and Pakistan grabs – especially after India saw multiple attempts to have the tie moved to a neutral venue rejected – and having to deal with the heavy security cover that restricted their movement within the city, the higher-ranked Indian side comfortably sailed past Pakistan with four wins, dropping only one set along the way.

Bhambri and Myneni – a successful tour-level partnership in the past – won the match in straight sets over Murtaza and Khan, who replaced Bakat Ullah in the lineup to lend some of his grass-court experience. The match, from start to finish, had been on the Indian duo’s racquets as their superior serve and baseline games made life tough for their opponents. The Indian duo broke Khan’s serve to go 1-0 and 4-1 up and sealed the opening set with ease from there.

While the Pakistani pair raised their level marginally in the second set, they were still on the back foot. Murtaza nervily saved two break points in the middle of the set, and then the Pakistani duo locked in on serve to take it to a tiebreaker, where they fashioned a 4-2 lead. But the momentum swung India’s way as Bhambri and Myneni tightened their games to extract errors from their opponents. Khan double-faulted on match point, allowing India to win the match 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Poonacha, in the follow-up dead rubber, was also comfortable on top against Muhammad Shoaib, not facing a single break point and crunching returns against his opponent’s faltering serve to round out the 6-3, 6-4 win.

Pakistan veteran Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi had caused a slight scare by winning the tight opening set against Ramkumar Ramanathan on Saturday, but after riding his opponent’s momentum and recovering to clinch the second set in a tiebreaker, Ramkumar won the match in three sets and India did not look back from there. N Sriram Balaji defeated Khan in two rain-interrupted sets to give his side the 2-0 lead on Saturday, and the doubles win sealed promotion.

The atmosphere was not buzzing as is usually the case for a sporting tie between India and Pakistan given the security conditions in place, and the International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) directive allowing only 500-odd spectators to be in attendance at the Islamabad Sports Complex over the weekend. But India got the job done, ensuring promotion to World Group 1 after their humbling experience of being knocked into World Group 2, the fourth-tier of the Davis Cup.

India were able to get themselves back into the third tier thanks to fortunate draws against lower-ranked Morocco at home, which they won 4-1 in Lucknow last year, and then Pakistan away in the subsequent playoff.

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