Ramkumar Ramanathan and Sumit Nagal put up a strong performance to give India a 2–0 lead against Pakistan on the first day of the Davis Cup tie. The singles matches were completely unilateral. Ramkumar defeated 17-year-old Mohd Shoaib by 6–0 in just 42 minutes. Shoaib was only able to present a slight challenge in the sixth game of the second set when he pulled Ramkumar to two deuce points.
Sumit Nagal recorded his first win in the Davis Cup. He Defeated Huffaiza Mohd Rehman in the second single. Rehman was defeated by 6–0, 6–2 in 64 minutes. In the second match, young Pakistani player Huffaiza tried to engage Nagal in as long rallies as possible. In the second game of the second set twice, he drew the Nagle Deuce points and won the third game for Pakistan for the first time.
India has never lost to Pakistan in six matches so far and it is likely to continue. The doubles match will be played on Saturday. There will be a pair of Huffaiza and Shoaib in front of the pair of Leander Paes and Jeevan Neduchezian for India. A win on Saturday would put Paes ahead of his world record of winning the most doubles matches in Davis Cup history. He is currently on top with 43 wins. The winner of this match will take on Croatia in the World Cup qualifiers which will be played on March 6 and 7 next year.
