India went win-less on the first day of their Davis Cup Qualifier tie against Italy as both Ramkumar Ramanathan and Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost their singles rubbers on Friday.
Andreas Seppi overcame early jitters to beat Ramkumar Ramanathan while youngster Matteo Berrettini dominated India No 1 Prajnesh Gunneswaran on the the grass court of the Calcutta South Club.
World No 37 Seppi was slow off the blocks but hit top gear in the second set to complete a 6-4, 6-2 win in one hour and 11 minutes while his 22-year-old compatriot needed just 58 minutes to win 6-4, 6-3.
The big-serving Ramkumar fired eight aces but his weak returns meant that he failed to convert two break points in the first set before the Italian won five points in a row to wrap the opening set in 41 minutes. Ramkumar, who is ranked 133, failed to convert two break points in the second and eighth game.
The second set turned out to be a formality for the Italian as he shifted gears in the third game to give Italy a 1-0 lead in the tie.
Italy had taken a gamble by leaving out their top-ranked player world number 19 Marco Cecchinato, who had ousted world number one Novak Djokovic from the French Open last year. But against opponents who have never been ranked inside the top 100, it was enough to be unbeaten on the first day.
India and Italy will play the doubles rubber on Saturday followed by reverse singles and the hosts will need a huge turnaround to win the tie.
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