Davis Cup: Ramkumar, Yuki power India to 2-0 lead against New Zealand

Pune : It was good day for India in Davis Cup as Ramkumar Ramanthan, Yuki Bhambri won their matches to hand a commanding 2-0 lead against New Zealand in the Asia/Oceania Group I.

In the first singles, Yuki defeated Finn Tearney 6-4 6-4 6-3 while Ramkumar was impressive in his 6-3 6-4 6-3 over Jose Statham in the second one.

Both the Kiwi player are higher ranked and much experienced than their opponents.

Ramkumar, who has been struggling for form of late, served extremely well today and also held his nerves on long rallies and that made a huge difference to the outcome of the match.

He clinched the opening set in just half hour with one service break in the fourth game that put him 3-1 up. Serving consistently well, often delivering the first ones at over 200 kmph, and hitting precise ground strokes, the tall Chennai lad dominated his vastly experienced opponent from the beginning of the opening set.

Ramkumar also served three aces, including one down the T when he was holding a set-point, and largely played confident strokes accompanied by grunts.

Veteran Leander Paes, eyeing a world record 43 doubles wins in the Davis Cup history, will now play alongside national hard court champion Vishnu Vardhan  to seal the tie for the hosts.