Davis Cup: Indians pass the Togo test

India’s 2025 Davis Cup campaign began with a comfortable 4-0 win over lower-ranked and inexperienced Togo in a World Group I Play-Off at the DLTA complex in New Delhi on February 1-2. The victory over Togo was more or less assured when the draw was held in October. What followed in Delhi this month was a mere formality.

The African nation returned to the Davis Cup in 2022 after being absent for almost two decades and started its journey all the way from Group IV (Africa zone). It did well to reach the World Group I Play-Offs by winning 10 of its 11 ties in such a short span. However, it did not face any opponent even close to the level of the current Indian squad, which comprised S. Mukund (World No. 365), Ramkumar Ramanathan (World No. 406) and debutant Karan Singh (World No. 496) as options for singles rubbers. Olympian N. Sriram Balaji (World No. 64) and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli (World No. 79), another debutant, were selected for doubles.

On the other hand, Togo had just one player with an ATP ranking — Thomas Setodji (World No. 1256), while Liova Ajavon, Hod’abalo Padio and M’lapa Akomlo were the other members, with Alisama Agnamba as the non-playing captain. The gulf in quality was evident. The Togolese simply did not have the level to challenge the host.

With temperatures in the low 20s, fleeting sunlight and barely any strong winds, around 2,000 spectators turned up each day to support the players. Mukund (left), playing only his second Davis Cup tie since he cramped and hobbled off the court on his debut against Morocco in Lucknow in 2023, took down Ajavon 6-2, 6-1 before Ramkumar brushed aside Setodji 6-0, 6-2 to give the host a 2-0 lead on day one.

On day two, Rithvik and Balaji put the tie to bed as they took down Akomlo and Padio 6-2, 6-1. Singh and Padio faced each other in the first reverse singles, a dead rubber, and the Indian triumphed 6-2, 6-3. Two of the four rubbers finished in under an hour.

India will next compete in a World Group I tie in September, where a win against its opponent — which will either be one of the winners from the other World Group I Play-Offs or the defeated sides from the 2025 Qualifiers — will ensure a spot in next year’s Qualifiers.

India’s Davis Cup downfall

India has not reached the Davis Cup Qualifiers since its 1-3 defeat to Croatia in 2021, but the country’s struggle to challenge the stronger teams has lasted much longer. Multiple factors such as lack of sustained quality in singles, players’ commitment, and missteps by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) have led to this situation.

India is a three-time Davis Cup finalist (1966, 1974 and 1987). In the past, players such as Ramanathan Krishnan, Ramesh Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Anand Amritraj, Leander Paes and Somdev Devvarman have punched above their weight to defy the odds and beat higher-ranked opponents in Davis Cup rubbers.

Ramanathan famously stunned Australian legend Rod Laver in four sets in the Inter-Zonal Final in 1959, a tie which India lost 1-4. A young Paes upset top clay courter Arnaud Boetsch as he and Ramesh went on to beat France 3-2 in the quarterfinals in 1993.

The current singles crop of Ramkumar, Mukund and India No. 1 Sumit Nagal has yet to prove its mettle against tougher opponents.

In terms of commitment as well, the Amritrajs (both played a total of 72 singles rubbers), the Krishnans (111 singles rubbers) and Paes (70 singles) never shied away from national duty.

The demands of modern-day tennis are understandably greater as the game has become more physical, but apart from injuries, in the recent past, players such as Nagal and Mukund have missed ties for other reasons as well. Nagal was infamously dropped from the 2017 tie against New Zealand due to disciplinary issues. He and Mukund also refused to travel to Pakistan last year.

A disastrous 0-4 loss away to Sweden in a World Group I tie in September 2024 only made things worse. Nagal pulled out of the Stockholm tie due to a back issue. However, AITA secretary Anil Dhupar insinuated that Nagal had deliberately missed the fixture and instead had asked for a large annual fee to play in the competition. Dhupar also said that Nagal was playing a tournament in China. The Indian was actually scheduled to play the Hangzhou Open, an ATP 250 event the week after the Davis Cup tie. He withdrew from the tournament hours before his first-round clash on September 19.

Yuki Bhambri, India’s best doubles player after Rohan Bopanna, remained unavailable for unknown reasons. Mukund was suspended for two ties for opting out of the World Group I Play-Off against Pakistan.

Dhupar suggested that non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal made the effort to include him for the Sweden match despite the ban, provided he had made himself available, but Mukund revealed in a social media post that he had no clue about the ban in the first place.

Two weeks after that loss to Sweden, former Indian players Devvarman and Purav Raja filed a petition against AITA at the Delhi High Court, accusing the federation of violating the Sports Code. The duo also requested the court to stop AITA from holding elections.

While the court allowed the polls to go ahead, it ordered that the results could not be declared and had to be presented in a sealed envelope. The case is still ongoing. The AITA has been unable to nurture the few promising singles players that the country has produced over the last three decades. This is a worrying trend, since singles players do the bulk of the work in a Davis Cup tie.

On the contrary, at times it has come across as an anti-player federation with its administrative style. As a response, the players have been reluctant to join the Davis Cup team.

In 2013, eight players, including Mahesh Bhupathi, Devvarman and Bopanna, made themselves unavailable for the home tie against South Korea after revolting against the federation, demanding a better coach, remuneration, involvement in the choice of venue and a new non-playing captain in place of S.P. Misra.

An uncertain future

For unknown reasons, Nagal and Bhambri both missed the tie against Togo. Ramkumar and Mukund, who won their singles ties against the Togolese, had to be awarded main-draw wildcards for the Chennai Open ATP Challenger the following week since they could not make the cut on the basis of their rankings. Both lost in the first round.

With the uncertainty around the court case against AITA and what kind of changes it will bring in the Indian tennis ecosystem, there is no guarantee that things will get any better when the Indian Davis Cup team is in action in September.