India got off to the worst possible starts in the opening round of the Davis Cup Qualifiers on Friday as both Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan went down to their Croatian counterparts. The defence grew steadily, and the number of percentage shots over the lowest part of the net increased.

Borna Gojo duly glided down the court, opened up his body, not bothering to hide his intent of finishing off the point with an inside out forehand winner. Most importantly, he handled pressure better than the Indian.Prajnesh had a break chance in the very first game of the match but Gojo saved that with an ace. The … But Gojo, playing his first Davis Cup tie at home, had his own point to prove.Copyright © 2020 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved Davis Cup: India down 2-0 against Croatia, after Prajnesh and Ramkumar lose in singles India trailed Croatia 2-0 by the end of the day's play in the Davis Cup qualifiers in Zagreb on Friday. India raced to a 2-0 lead in its Davis Cup tie against Pakistan as Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal toyed with their teen rivals here on Friday. CNN and the CNN logo are registered marks of Cable News Network, LP LLLP, displayed with permission. He pushed the 22-year-old deep into his forehand side, then back to the backhand. File Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy “Tomorrow it’s going to be pretty similar [scoreline],” predicted Nagal.India’s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, too, was pleased with the performance. We did not want to lose. Gojo served big and hit consistently on the backhand of the Indian, who had two more chances in the fifth game to break the serve of his rival but could convert none.Gojo, though, kept providing the openings and Prajnesh finally drew the first blood when the Croat hit a forehand long in the seventh game.Some good defending by Prajnesh meant that long rallies were in play and that worked in the Indian's favour. The nerves from Gojo, who was playing in only his second tie and third match overall, were evident.About 90 minutes later, Prajnesh was commanding a rally on the indoor hard court at the Dom Sportova in Zagreb. Zagreb: Ramkumar Ramanathan lost a dog fight with Marin Cilic in one of the best matches of his career after unforced errors pulled Prajnesh Gunneswaran down as India trailed Croatia 0-2 on the opening day of the Davis Cup Qualifiers, here on Friday. The changeover after the first set was an opportunity to calm down.And in the first game of the second set, Gojo broke Prajnesh’s serve: staying in the rally on his sixth break point attempt, playing into the angles to open up the court, botching up an overhead smash, but then redeeming himself to slot home a backhand volley. Ramkumar battled hard but it was not enough to stop Laslo Djere from winning his first Davis Cup match. [Ramkumar and I] had lot of fire today. Twice, he pushed Nagal to deuce points in the second game of the second set and finally put Pakistan on board by holding the third game after squandering four game points.He returned and dished out another hold, staying close to Nagal. Marin Cilic vs Ramkumar Ramanathan DAVIS CUP 2020 Highlights Tennis Empire. India's Ramkumar Ramanathan came back from a set down to defeat Canada's Bradley Schnur 5-7, 7-6 (4), 7-5, 7-5, while Yuki Bhambri went down fighting 6-7 (2), 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-4, 1-6 to Denis Shapovalov in a marathon encounter.
The Indians lost just two games during the day. Ramkumar Ramanathan gave his all before losing while Prajnesh Gunneswaran squandered chances galore in his match as India conceded a 0-2 lead in the World Group Play-off tie against Serbia here on Friday.

) Prajnesh was feeling the heat now and his backhand melted as unforced errors put him down 1-4 in the decider.The comeback from Prajnesh did not happen and Gojo walked out of the court jumping with joy.Array Your contribution is vital to our brand of uninfluenced, boots-on-the-ground reportage that’s worth your while. January 31, 2019 2:17 pm. He entered In April, Ramanathan reached his first singles challenger final at In July, he reached his second singles challenger final at In August, Ramanathan qualified for the first time in main draw of a Masters 1000 tournament at In April, Ramanathan reached his first challenger singles final of the season at In July, Ramanathan reached his first ATP world tour final at In November, he won his first doubles ATP Challenger title at (W) Won; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent; (P) postponed; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (F-S) silver or (SF-B) bronze Olympic medal; a (NMS) downgraded Masters Series/1000 tournament; (NH) not held. ( Chennai born Ramanathan had played Cilia once at Pune in 2018 where he suffered a loss 3-6, 4-6 at the hands of former US Open champion.