India vs Sweden, Davis Cup: Balaji to play Ymer, Ramkumar faces Borg in singles rubbers on Day 1

Balaji and Ramkumar were opted for as they put India in the driver’s seat on way to the 4-0 victory against Pakistan in the World Group play-off earlier in Islamabad.

Balaji, who competed in singles in Pakistan early this year on grass court, will open the indoor tie with a match against Swedish number one player Elias Ymer | Photo Credit: V. Sreenivasa Murthy/The Hindu

Olympian N Sriram Balaji will open the campaign for India against the 238th ranked Elias Ymer in the Davis Cup World Group-1 tennis encounter against Sweden on the indoor hard courts at the Royal Tennis Hall in Stockholm on Saturday.

The Indian team opted to rely on Balaji and Ramkumar Ramanathan for the first day’s play, as they were the ones who had put India in the driver’s seat on way to the 4-0 victory against Pakistan in the World Group play-off earlier in Islamabad.

Captain Rohit Rajpal had already given a hint about repeating the players in singles and doubles, after watching the players in training. The team would depend on Balaji and Ramkumar to shoulder the doubles against Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson.

Ramkumar, who will play Leo Borg in the singles on the opening day, will pair up with Sriram Balaji in the doubles | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Ramkumar will play the No.2 Swede, Leo Borg in the second singles on the opening day.

In the five ties over the years, Sweden has never lost to India. in fact, India has managed to win only two rubbers in all.

Depending on the results of the opening day, the captain will have the option of changing players for the reverse singles.

While the 28-year-old Ymer, ranked 238 at the moment, had a career-best rank of 105, Ramkumar also had enjoyed a career-best rank of 111 in 2018.

Leo Borg had reached a career-best rank of 334 before slipping to the current status of 603. The 21-year-old Swede may be more familiar as the son of the legendary Bjorn Borg, who used to win French Open and Wimbledon back to back regularly, but Leo himself has a strong foundation, having been ranked No.12 in the world as a junior.

In front of the home fans, the Swedes are expected to be competing like tigers in the den, in the indoor arena.

The matches on the first day are scheduled to start from 5.30 p.m. IST, while the second day’s play which will feature the doubles followed by the two reverse singles matches, will start at 3.30 p.m. IST.

The draw:

September 14: Elias Ymer vs Sriram Balaji; Leo Borg vs Ramkumar Ramanathan.

September 15: Filip Bergevi & Andre Goransson vs Balaji & Ramkumar; Ymer vs Ramkumar, Leo vs Balaji.

Live streaming info:

For Indian audience, Sony Sports will broadcast the tournament live while it can be live streamed on Sony Liv.