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New Delhi, March 4 (IANS): Yuki Bhambri defeated Denmark’s Mikael Torpegaard in the second singles 6-4, 6-4 to give India a 2-0 lead in the Davis Cup World Group Playoff 1 tie, at the Delhi Gymkhana Club here on Friday.
World number 590, Bhambri displayed some wonderful groundstrokes early on, while the 305th-ranked Torpegaard took little time to acclimatise to the pace and bounce of the courts.
When the score was 3-3 in the first set, Bhambri broke the service of the Dane and took a 4-3 lead. But in the next game, the 27-year-old Torpegaard broke Bhambri and levelled the score with his heavy backhand and ground strokes.
However, the 29-year-old Bhambri upped his game against the Dane, broke his next service and took a 5-4 lead. In the next game, he did not give any points to Torpegaard and took the first set with a perfect slice at the net.
In the second set, Bhambri displayed his ‘slice and touch’ skills on the net while Torpegaard, who was struggling with his first serve, made two double faults. However, he managed to save two match points but at the end he gave up and lost the match.
Earlier in the first singles, Ramkumar Ramanathan gave India a perfect start after defeating lowly-ranked Christian Sigsgaard in the first singles 6-3, 6-2.
World No. 170, Ramkumar was at his best from the first game, breaking the services of his 24-year-old opponent regularly and grabbing points with ease.
The 27-year-old Ramkumar caught the world No. 824 Christian off-guard from the beginning, and took the lead in the very first game. He raced to 5-2 in no time and sealed the first set with a beautifully-crafted backhand stroke.
In the second set, both players held their serves, but Ramkumar broke the Dane in the third game and took a 2-1 lead. After that, the winner of the Adelaide trophy this year broke Christian’s serve two times in a row, and completely took control of the match.
Christian tried hard to come back into the match, but Ramkumar did not give him much space and won the second set with an ace.