Canada tougher than Czech: Bhupathi
NEW DELHI: Davis Cup captain Mahesh Bhupathi says the Canada team, which has ‘future star’ Denis Shapovalov in the line-up, is stronger than the Czech Republic side to which India had lost in the play-offs stage in 2015. The Indian team, which had a week-long training camp in New York before reaching Edmonton, is set to make a fourth consecutive attempt to qualify for the elite World Group. After dominating the Asia/ Oceania zone, India lost to tennis power-houses Serbia (2014), Czech Republic (2015) and Rafael Nadal-led Spain (2016) at the World Group Play-off stage in recent years. Canada have named world number 51 Shapovalov, who reached the US Open fourth round, Vasek Pospisil (82) along with seasoned Daniel Nestor (43 in doubles) and Brayden Schnur (202) for the play-off tie, starting Friday. “Canada is a quality team but of course we are here because we earned the chance to play them. I personally think they are a stronger team than the Czechs when they came to India,” Bhupathi told PTI from Edmonton. Shapovalov has made quite a splash with his performance in the last few weeks. Before making the US Open fourth round as a qualifier, the 18-yearold had shocked Nadal en route the semifinals of the Montreal Masters. Bhupathi said going to the University of Columbia in New York for the camp has helped the team prepare better for the indoor tie.
“The week of practice indoors has helped the team. The boys have hit a lot of balls and are feeling good, so we are looking forward to the weekend,” he said.
Bhupathi, who replaced Anand Amritraj in the captain’s chair early this year, said the recent success of both Yuki Bhambri and Ramkumar Ramanthan against high-quality rivals is a tremendous confidence booster.
TEAM SPIRIT FIRES UP KYRGIOS AGAIN
MELBOURNE: Two weeks after declaring he lacked any dedication to tennis, Nick Kyrgios has pledged to fire up for Australia’s bid to reach the Davis Cup final.
Australia play Belgium in the semi-final in Brussels this weekend, looking to secure their first trip to the decider since their 2003 win over Spain. An injury-hampered Kyrgios bowed out of the opening round of the U.S. Open with an assortment of fines, a smashed racket and a tantrum.