Seoul, Sep 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) India suffered a difficult opening day in their Davis Cup in Qualifiers 2nd Round tie against Korea as Dhakshineswar Suresh and Sumit Nagal both surrendered leads in three-set battles to leave the visitors 0-2 down at the Olympic Tennis Court here on Friday.
For the first time, Korea was one victory away from a Davis Cup quarter-finals spot after Soonwoo Kwon and Hyeon Chung staged dramatic comebacks against India’s top two singles players.
The turnaround came in the afternoon session when Kwon handed Suresh his first Davis Cup loss, recovering from a slow start to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Suresh began strongly on a warm but cloudy afternoon, breaking Kwon in the first service game. Although backed by a partisan home crowd, the Korean had trouble finding his footing on the slow court early on.
But the tide turned in the second set as Kwon stepped up on return and began to attack Suresh’s serves early. The tactic yielded four double faults from the Indian before Kwon converted a break point in the sixth game and served out the set.
Suresh again started well in the decider but Kwon kept up the pressure and broke in the sixth game. The Korean found success with his backhand repeatedly and earned Korea’s first match point in the ninth game. Suresh did save it but Kwon wrapped up the match in the next game.
“I felt a lot more nervous than I have in a long time,” Kwon said after the match. “Of course, I usually feel some nerves, but today they were particularly intense. At the beginning, my vision was almost blurred. From the second set onward, I began to feel more relaxed. Although things did not go well in the first set, I tried to get a better read on his serving patterns. In the second set, I was able to read those patterns and hold my return position to one side, which helped me play much better.”
Kwon finished with seven aces and converted an impressive 92 per cent of his first serve points.
Nagal, who is India's top-ranked, then appeared to be on course to even matters up when he raced to a 4-0 lead against Chung in the evening session. But the Korean had other ideas and eventually triumphed 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and five minutes of relentless tennis.
Nagal broke Chung twice in the first set and led 5-2 before serving out the set. Chung saved four set points but Nagal eventually took the first set.
The second set saw a series of long rallies and gritty service holds before Nagal broke to go up 4-3. But the Indian couldn’t make the advantage count.
Nagal double faulted in the next game to allow Chung a chance to break back and the Korean did not miss. Chung then broke Nagal again to take the second set 6-4 and force a decider.
Chung continued the onslaught in the fourth game of the final set but Nagal fought back, breaking three games later. The momentum kept shifting as both players fought through the physical and mental challenges of the match.
At 5-5, Nagal finally buckled under pressure, serving a double fault to hand Chung a match point. The Korean seized the opportunity to notch another comeback and give Korea a 2-0 lead.
“When I was broken at 3-3 in the second set and fell behind 3-4, I actually felt more relaxed,” Chung reflected after the win. “I thought my opponent might feel the pressure of wanting to close out the match. I kept believing that I would get at least one opportunity and that, if I could take it, the momentum might shift again. At 5-5 in the third set, there was no real strategy left. We had both been playing for more than three hours, so it became a battle of mental strength.”
India now face a must-win situation on the second day of the tie. Saturday will begin with the doubles rubber before the two reverse singles matches.
Korea need just one more victory to seal the tie and book a place in their first-ever Davis Cup quarter-finals.
Source: IANS
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