Rohan Bopanna bids farewell to Davis Cup with victory, India beats Morocco 3-1

Rohan Bopanna ended his Davis Cup career on a high note with a comfortable straight sets win in the men’s doubles with Yuki Bhambri while Sumit Nagal also won his reverse singles match as India defeated Morocco in a World Group 2 clash here on Sunday. Defeated 3-1.

The 43-year-old Bopanna and Bhambri, playing their 33rd and final match in the Davis Cup, defeated Morocco’s Elliot Benchetrit and Younes Lalami Laroussi 6-2, 6-1 in a match that lasted one hour and 11 minutes. Nagal defeated Yasin Dalimi 6-3, 6-3 in the first reverse singles. On the other hand, Digvijay Pratap Singh will play in the singles match which is just a formality. This will be Digvijay’s first match in Davis Cup. This is only the second time that Nagal has won both his singles matches in a Davis Cup match.

Earlier, he had achieved this feat in the match played against Pakistan in Kazakhstan in 2019. Nagal won break points early in both the sets and then did not give Dalimi a chance to make a comeback. With this victory, India has reached the World Group One playoffs to be held next year. Bopanna was very emotional and took off his Indian team shirt on the court itself, which ended his Davis Cup career. He played 33 matches in his career, out of which he won 23 matches.

These also include 13 doubles matches. About 50 family members and friends of Bopanna had also come to watch this match. He expressed his gratitude to his fans. The picture of the player waving the tricolor was printed on the T-shirts worn by Bopanna’s family and friends. Younis could not hold his serve even once in the entire match while the Indian team faced break point only once when Bhambri was serving. The Indian team had also saved this break point.

The Indian team took the initial lead by breaking Younis’s service. When the score was 30-15, Younis played the ball into the net on Bhambri’s bank hand return. After this, Bhambri achieved the first break point by hitting a volley winner. Benchetrit took a shot on Bhambri’s return but it went wide, giving India a 3-1 lead. Bopanna saved his serve in the next game and made the score 4-1. After this the Indian pair again targeted Younis and broke his service easily. India won the first set in 34 minutes.

Bopanna also showed excellent service in the second set but in the third game, Morocco got a break point on Bhambri’s serve. However, the Indian team was successful in saving it. Younis made the score 40-0 on his serve in the fourth game but after that he lost control over his serve. Apart from the double fault, he also made unnecessary mistakes and lost his serve. India won this set and the match on Bhambri’s serve.

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