Tennis stars accused of 'refusing' to play for country at Davis Cup in angry statement
Three tennis stars have been accused by their country of refusing to play in the Davis Cup.
Tennis stars Sumit Nagal, Yuki Bhambri and Mukund Sasikumar have been accused by the All India Tennis Association (AITA) of refusing to play in the Davis Cup. India were humiliated by Sweden in Stockholm at the weekend as they lost the tie 4-0.
N Sriram Balaji was defeated by Sweden’s highest ranked player Elias Ymer on Saturday, with Bjorn Borg’s son Leo getting the better of Ramkumar Ramanathan in the second match.
Filip Bergevi and Andre Goransson then dispatched Ramanathan and Balaji in a doubles encounter on Sunday to win the tie, with Ymer overcoming Siddharth Vishwakarma in a dead rubber afterwards. The result means India will now be forced to compete in the play-offs next year for a place in World Group I.
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Following the performance of the Indian team, Nagal - who is set to play in the ATP 250 event in Hangzhou this week - criticised the AITA, as did Purav Raja and former player Somdev Devvarman.
And in response, the AITA released a statement that read: “Representing India in [the] Davis Cup is more than just tennis - it's about honour, national pride and inspiring the next generation of athletes.
“Players like Sumit Nagal, Yuki Bhambri and Mukund Sasikumar refused to play for [the] country even though they were participating in other tournaments elsewhere. AITA management, including the captain of the Davis Cup team, tried to convince each of them to play for [the] country, but they simply refused.”
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Meanwhile, AITA secretary Anil Dhupar explained: “Definitely if Sumit and Yuki had played, we would have had far better chances.
“They questioned the management of AITA, the captain and team. Sumit Nagal said he had some back problem, but [is] that problem okay [now]?
“He is playing a tournament in China, so somebody has to make people understand the right thing.”
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And discussing Sasikumar, who is currently suspended by the AITA, Dhupar added: “The captain [Rohit Rajpal] called 10 times and [said] that he will request the executive committee to revoke the [suspension] decision.
“It's time for you to play. If there is a decision against you, he will request the executive committee. But he refused.”
India have never won the Davis Cup but finished as runners-up in 1966, 1974 and 1987. The team had come up against Sweden in the competition six times in the past and had lost all of the ties. The latest tie was India’s first under their new national coach Ashutosh Singh, with former Davis Cup coach Zeeshan Ali quitting last month.
