India loses Davis Cup playoff 2-3 to Canada
Indian tennis team lost the Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie to Canada 2-3, in the best-of-5 rubbers. While first day ended in a 1-1 result in Singles, Canada got the better of India on Day 2, in doubles match. Ramkumar Ramanathan's loss to Denis Shapovalov in the reverse singles on final day sealed India's fate, besides a dead rubber win from Yuki Bhambri.
Results summary
Day 1 Singles : Ramkumar Ramanathan beat Brayden Schnur while Yuki Bhambri loses to Denis Shapovalov. Day 2 Doubles : Bopanna/Purav Raja lose to Vasek Pospisil/Daniel Nestor. Day 3 Reverse Singles : Ramanathan loses to Shapovalov, and Yuki wins the dead 5th rubber against Schnur.
Did we get the doubles combo wrong?
While singles matches were always going to be tricky against a strong opposition like Canada, India traditionally has a strong team in the doubles category. The pair of Rohan Bopanna/Purav Raja proved weak for the seasoned Canadians Vasek Pospisil/ Daniel Nestor. Raja dropping his serve five times did not help the Indian side. Could selecting Leander Paes have helped? We may never know.
What does the results mean?
With the loss India fail to qualify for the 2018 Davis Cup World Group, and are relegated to Zone Group I of Asia/Oceania. They are then required to compete within the zone and try to qualify for next year's World Group play-offs.
Other Playoff results
Seven other World Group playoffs were contested between 15-17 Sep. The results include : Croatia beat Colombia 4-1, Switzerland beat Belarus 3-2, one of the top teams Czech Republic lose to Netherlands 2-3, Germany advanced with a 3-2 win over Portugal, Japan's 3-1 won against Brazil (doubles couldn't be played due to a typhoon), and Hungary defeated Russia 3-1 to advance into World Group.
World champion Argentina ousted
In a shocking World Group playoff outcome, the current Davis Cup champion Argentina, without their fierce competitor Juan Martin del Potro, were knocked out by Kazakhstan 2-3. This is the first time a reigning champion were relegated, since Sweden in 1999.
