India Name Top Players for SA Davis Cup Tie
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London - India are bringing out their big guns for the Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie against South Africa to be played at the Indoor Arena at Ellis Park from September 18 to 20.
The Indian Tennis Federation named a full-strength squad comprising Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri. S P Misra is the non-playing captain while Nandan Bal has been named as coach for the tie.
They will be taking on John-Laffnie de Jager's squad comprising Rik de Voest, Izak van der Merwe, Wesley Moodie, Jeff Coetzee and Raven Klaasen.
According to Davis Cup rules the captains need to name a four-man team 10 days prior to the tie, although any two players can be changed up to one hour before the draw.
However, only players nominated in the squad shall be selected to play in the singles and doubles matches of the tie.
At this stage De Jager has named De Voest, Van der Merwe, Moodie and Coetzee as his four-man team while India have selected Paes, Bhupathi, Bopanna and Devvarman in their four-man squad.
In Bhupathi and Paes they have one of the world's best doubles combinations and world No 162 Devvarman will spearhead the singles players. With De Voest ranked 184 and Van der Merwe at 300, that makes Devvarman the highest ranked singles player in the tie.
Their weakness could come in the No 2 singles but it is interesting to note the inclusion of world No 1 junior, Yuki Bhambri, in their five-man squad. Bhambri won the junior title at this year's Australian Open and is currently the top seed for in the boys singles draw at the US Open.
Bopanna seems to focusing on doubles where he is ranked at 92 but his singles ranking is 514. He has been ranked as high as 213 but that was in July 2007.
A lot could hinge on the doubles match, and with two of the best teams in the world going at it hammer and tongs, the rubber between Coetzee and Moodie against Bhupathi and Paes could be one of the most exciting matches of the tie.
The first two singles matches will be played on Friday, September 18, the doubles on Saturday September 19, and the reverse singles on Sunday, September 20. The Tie is sponsored by the City of Johannesburg's community development division. Tickets are now available at all Computicket outlets nationwide retailing at R65 (Saturday) and R75 (Friday and Sunday) respectively.
RANKINGS
South Africa:
Rik de Voest (184 singles, 43 doubles)
Izak van der Merwe (300 and 266)
Wesley Moodie (9 doubles)
Jeff Coetzee (27 doubles)
India:
Somdev Devvarman (162 singles 348 doubles)
Rohan Bopanna(514 and 92)
Leander Paes (8 doubles)
Mahesh Buphathi (7 doubles)
BLD Communications
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