ISLAMABAD (Web Desk) – Indian tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan bagged a win against Pakistani star Aisamul Haq with scores of 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-0 in Davis Cup Group 1 playoff match in Islamabad on Saturday.
With this victory, India led the tie 1-0. The match was going neck-to-neck until the second set but Aisam developed some fitness issues in the third set and at one point the game was paused after he sought medical help.
The Indian player took great advantage of Aisam’s fitness problems as he secured win in the third set by a large margin.
On Jan 29, a 10-member Indian squad, comprising five players and as many support staff arrived in Islamabad for the Davis Cup World Group I Play-Off tie against Pakistan.
The Indian Davis Cup team is visiting Pakistan first time after 1964, a spokesman of Pakistan Tennis Federation said on Monday.
Besides five players the Indian squad includes two physios, a coach, a manager, and a coordinator, he said. The tie is scheduled to be held on the grass courts of Sports Complex Islamabad on February 3-4.
The All India Tennis Association (AITA) had initially appealed to play the tie at a neutral venue, however International Tennis Federation tribunal rejected that. The most recent tie between the two neighbouring countries took place in 2019 in Kazakhstan.
Pakistan Tennis Federation has already announced the team for the tie that comprises Muzammil Murtaza, Aisam ul Haq Qureshi, Aqeel Khan, Muhammad Shoaib and Barkatullah. Muhammad Abid will be the team’s non-playing captain.