India eased past Pakistan 4-0 in their Davis Cup World Group I play-off tie on Sunday in Islamabad, with the visitors winning the opening doubles and second singles matches on grass.
Having won both singles matches on Saturday, their overall record in the Davis Cup now stands at 8-0 against Pakistan.
The Indian duo of Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri proved too good for Pakistan’s Aqeel Khan and Muzammil Murtaza, winning 6-2, 7-6.
In the third singles match of the tie, Niki Poonacha needed only 64 minutes to beat a young Muhammad Shoaib 6-3, 6-4 to seal the tie for India.
Veteran Pakistani player Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, who lost his singles match to Ramkumar Ramanathan on Saturday, did not take the court on Sunday due to a hamstring injury sustained during his singles match.
The doubles match began with Bhambri and Myneni immediately breaking the Pakistani pair to take a 1-0 lead in the first set. Khan and Murtaza then served an ace and double point in the same point to hold their serve. But the Indians broke their serve again two points later at 4-1 and then went on to serve for the set, winning 6-2.
The second set saw Khan and Murtaza take the fight to the Indians, not allowing any opportunity for a break point. Bhambri and Myneni themselves ended up holding their serve throughout to force the tie-breaker. Although the Indians began with a double fault, they were able to rely on their match experience and win the second set 7-6 (5) to give their country an unassailable 3-0 lead in the tie.
In the second match of the day, Poonacha needed only one break point to take a 2-0 lead in the first set. Despite serving more double faults than Shoaib, the Indian didn’t let his serve bring him down and won the first set 6-3 easily.
Poonacha’s serve continued to be quite erratic in the second set with double faults and aces, but won a single break point at 2-1 and never looked back, winning the second set 6-4 to seal the tie for India.
The twelve winning nations from the World Group I play-offs will play a World Group I tie in September while the same number of losing nations will contest a World Group II tie, also in September.
(With inputs from AFP)
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