Following the Indian team’s historic success in the Fed Cup, non-playing captain Vishal Uppal stressed that it was only due to the whole team pulling in the right direction that they were able to pull off the feat.
The Indian side progressed to the Fed Cup playoffs for the first time in its history in Dubai after finishing second in Pool A of the Group I round robin in the Asia/Oceania zone which included China, South Korea, Indonesia, Chinese Taipei and Uzbekistan. India will take on Latvia or the Netherlands in the playoffs scheduled on April 17 and 18.
“I think it’s a big step in the right direction. I hope it gives Indian tennis a big boost, especially women’s tennis in India. Full credit for everyone because everyone came together for a common goal and we were able to achieve it,” he told DH.
With Karman Kaur Thandi missing due to injury, the promotion of 438-ranked Rutuja Bhosale, an inspired call by Uppal, ahead of the higher-ranked Riya Bhatia (339), yielded big results with the former winning three of her five singles matches.
Ankita Raina, the highest-ranked Indian at 163, won two of her three matches but formed a formidable partnership with veteran star Sania Mirza in the doubles to give India the victory over Korea, Taipei and Indonesia.
“We knew going in that China is the toughest team. But we gave them a run for their money, so because of the nature of the tournament it was important for us to look at the energy of the players because there were more matches coming in.
“My strategy was simple, even if we lose to China but beat others, we can qualify. I felt like Rutuja had a couple more dimensions to her game which might help us,” he said.
Uppal fielded Sowjanya Bavisetti and Riya against China and Uzbekistan in the doubles after the ties were already settled and leaned on the experience of Sania and the grit of Ankita, who was troubled by some stomach issues in the week, to see them through in the decisive doubles ties against the other three teams.
Ankita was particularly impressive handling the workload while Sania’s presence meant that India were strong in the doubles tie which is often decisive.
“Having Sania is a big boost, not just from a playing perspective but also mentally. Our singles players went with a bit more freedom knowing we had a strong doubles combination. Full credit to Ankita because she played singles and took a 30 minute break and was back on court playing doubles with Sania.
“Against Taipei, she played two-and-a-half hour singles match, took a break and played two-and-a-half hour doubles match. Sania also gave the younger players the confidence because they had a senior who could help them through,” the 43-year-old said adding that had the tie been held in February as it was meant to be, they would have lost out on Sania’s experience since she was injured.
Well, wfortune definitely favoured the brave.