New Delhi: After Rafael Nadal pulled out of the opening singles match against India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan due to a healing left wrist, Feliciano Lopez took on to the court to play the first singles and defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 to give Spain a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup World Play Off match being played at RK Khanna Stadium, here on Friday.
Later, David Ferrer thrashed Saketh Myneni in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 to give Spain 2-0 lead over the hosts.
Though world number 26 Feliciano Lopez was the superior of the two, Ramanathan put up a spirited performance to give some 4000 Indian fans a few moments to cherish. Ramkumar fought hard for every point but the Spaniard was too good for the Indian as he raced to 2-0 lead taking the sets 6-4, 6-4.
However, despite a medical break, Ramkumar came back strong in the third set and broke Lopez in the eighth game and later won the set 6-3 to make it 2-1.
But Lopez changed gears in the fourth set and dominated the Indian with ease. He broke Ramkumar in the second game, rushing to a 3-0 lead. And within no time he took the set 6-1 and the game.
In the second match of the day, David Ferrer had no match in Saketh Myneni, as the World No 13 beat Myneni rankled 137 in straight sets in one-hour 27-minute. Myneni struggled to cope with the big serving Ferrer and managed to take just four games in the match. He committed as many as 28 unforced errors to Ferrer’s 11.
Myneni committed two double faults in the fourth game of the first set to concede a break and soon he was trailing 1-4. Myneni was again down a breakpoint in the sixth game. Though he saved the first but double-faulted on the second and soon Ferrer took the set 6-1.
Ferrer’s dominance continued in the second set as he got a break in the first game of the second and there was no looking back for the Spaniard then. He raced to a 5-0 lead and soon sealed the set in the eighth game.
The story remained the same in the third set as Myneni had no answer to Ferrer’s serve and powerful rallies and lost the third set 1-6.
