Indian players on Tuesday got a chance to practice on the match court, which was temporarily carpeted at an ice-hockey stadium here, and after the first hit, it turned out to be spectator friendly in a limited but significant way .
non-playing captain Rohit RajpalBefore leaving for Finland, they said they were expecting a faster hard court, but realized that was not the case.
Welcome to the team @MetroAreena! Exercise 1: Double the fun https://t.co/PVi8dfnQTl
— Finnish Tennis Association (@tennisfi) 16316110823000
“What they have done is that they took out the snow and put a wooden plank and laid the court on top of it, so the bounce is less which suits us but at the same time the slowness of the court does not suit us,” Rajpal said. said. told PTI.
“Europeans mostly play on clay courts which are slow, so they love to rally and that’s their strength. Our Indian players don’t do that but we will benefit from less bounce and our strategy is around that,” he said. – Will turn around.” .
When asked how the low-bounce court would suit Ramkumar Ramanthan And Prajnesh Gunneswaran While he too has spent a lot of time training and playing in Europe, Rajpal said because of the performance of his shots.
“We can chip and charge, our players often do that. Ramkumar and Prajnesh both hit flat and low bounce would be very helpful for him. You can’t do that on a high bounce court,” he said.
The two-day match starts on Friday.
Finland has high-ranked players in both singles and doubles, but Rajpal, for whom this will be his third encounter as captain, said the Indians have a chance.
Finland’s top-ranked player is Emil Rusuvuri, who is ranked 74th in the ATP list, while India’s best player Prajnesh Gunneswaran (165) is not even in the top 150.
The left-handed Indian had recently lost to Rusuvuori on the Tour.
“On paper they are a better ranked team than us but it’s Davis Cup, I say 50-50. It depends on how things go on day one as well. Scoring 1-1 on day one It’s important for us. Doubles is going to be an important match for both sides.”
“As the days go by and we get to see more players, our strategy will be clear. The team looks to be in good shape, the boys are playing on tour so they are quick.”
Players have entered the Bio-Bubble where they are confined to their apartments, hotels and venues.
The apartments are located just outside the official hotel, where they go only for meals that are served in a separate protected area.
The winner of the tie will qualify for the qualifiers in 2022 while the losing teams will play-off to retain their place in the World Group I next year.
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