India with a Huge Upset in Biel – Both Matches Won on Day 1!
It’s more than 32 years ago since Leander Paes and Ramesh Krishnan upset Switzerland in Calcutta. After the March 1992 sensation, our team has great chances to continue their winning streak against the European team. After Day 1 in Biel, Rohit Rajpal’s team leads 2-0!
Report based on the original report by flyctory.com – find more pictures, including the morning brunch, there.
Jerome KYM lost to Dhakshineswar SURESH 6-7(5) 3-6
Both teams started with great servers – and thus there were not too many highlights in the first set. Dhakshineswar came back after trailing 0-40 at his second serve – but finally, the remaining games went more or less easy for the server. In the tie-break, the momentum was on Kym first, leading 2-0, but our guy fought back and attacked a second serve by Kym on the net – 2-2. While most of the points were rather short, the tie-break did have a few rallies. In the eighth point, Dhakshineswar converted one of them at Swiss serve – India was in the lead by 5-3. He served for the set at 6-4, but Kym closed up. The next point was finally decided by Suresh’s beautiful lob – Kym’s tweener was just not good enough and India took the tie-break by 7-5.
The second set looked similar. However, Dhakshineswar faced more difficult situations now. Being the first to serve, he faced two break points in the fifth game and two more in the seventh. His strong serve and his wise game always made him find a way out of the tricky situations. It all looked like the set was cruising towards a tie-break again, especially as Kym was rock solid at own serve so far. The more, the Swiss crowd was stunned when the score was 0-40 at Kym’s serve in the eighth match. The Indian underdog went to the net and took the only break of the match. Finally, Dhakshineswar converted the second match point at own serve, going for a huge upset against the some 500 spots better ranked Swiss – 7-6(5) 6-3 for the Indian colors in the first rubber.
Marc-Andrea HUESLER lost to Sumit NAGAL 3-6 6-7(4)
Now, India’s #1 was about to take responsibility in Biel. And he did with a lot of style in the first set, also profiting from Huesler’s struggle in the first set. Whenever the Swiss was on serve, there were break points for Nagal. Sumit took one of them in the very first game. Even though he struggled to convert thereafter, the Swiss #2 could not really put him under pressure as a return player in the first set. The ninth game sealed the first set for India. Two set points for our team at Swiss’ serve – and Sumit converted the first one.
The Swiss team went for the only option available – and took the toilet break. The loos in Biel are somehow magical, as Huesler played a completely different match. He was extremely solid at own serve and did no longer struggle with his first serve. The issues were on the Indian side, where Nagal had to save multiple break points against his serve. Especially in the tenth game, when Sumit faced a 30-40, the Swiss crowd pushed their domestic player. But while Sumit did struggle in the second set multiple times, he came back whenever he was under pressure the most. Three points in a row was finally the foundation to cruise into the tie-break.
That set-deciding discipline was on the Indian side on that day. Initially, both player scored here and there against the opponent’s serve. Nonetheless, court change was at 3-3 and Indian bench stood and tried to push for the second victory (apart from injured Yuki Bhambri). Huesler served at 4-5 against him. He hit the net in the first point leading to two match points for India. A rally decided the match, Sumit hat the better stroke and sealed the victory – 6-3 7-6(4)!
Three Chances for India
The second day will thus give three chances to be promoted for the 2026 Davis Cup campaign. The best chances are likely in the first match already, when our doubles team is the favorite one. However, after today’s performances, it is more than just a dream to at least win one of the singles rubbers, if necessary.
