GENERATIONAL OPPORTUNITY AWAITS AS KOREA REPUBLIC AND INDIA FACE OFF IN SEOUL WITH BOLOGNA BECKONING

India and Korea Republic head into their Davis Cup qualifying tie this week both knowing that they may never get a better opportunity to make it to the Final 8.

Every Davis Cup tie revolves around fitness, and this one is no exception. India appear to have suffered the biggest blow with doubles star Yuki Bhambri set to be ruled out with a thigh injury sustained before the US Open. Bhambri partnered Dhakshineswar Suresh in their three-hour marathon victory over Sander Arends and David Pel that proved crucial as India overcame The Netherlands in the previous round.

Nonetheless, the doubles lineup is will be led by N. Sriram Balaji who, at a career high of forty-nine in the world, is ranked just five places below Bhambri. Balaji recently won the Cancun Challenger alongside compatriot Anirudh Chandrisakar and reached the US Open second round. Meanwhile, Niki Kaliyanda Poonacha, now ranked at No. 88 in the ATP doubles rankings, steps in as a strong replacement for the injured Bhambri.

Suresh and Sumit Nagal will headline India’s singles challenge with Manas Dhamne – who at 18 is the youngest player among any of the teams in the Davis Cup Qualifiers 2nd Round – waiting in line for a Davis Cup debut if necessary. Captain Rohit Rajpal has noted concerns about the slowness of the newly resurfaced Center Court in Jamsil and, accordingly, the potential need to manage the workload of the big-serving Suresh.

That supposed slow court should be a factor favouring the home side but again fitness may be a concern. Kwon Soon-woo hasn’t played since retiring when a break down in the third set to Dusan Lajovic in US Open Qualifying, but the world number 157, now free of national service concerns, should be ready to lead the line and will be favoured to win his singles matches.

Hong Seong-chan has similarly emerged from his own national service and will be vying for the second singles spot with veteran former World No. 19 Chung Hyeon. Hong got through one round of US Open qualifying, defeating Nikoloz Basilashvili before coming up short against Tristan Schoolkate.

In Nam Ji-sung, Korea have a genuine doubles talent. Playing with Park Ui-sung, Nam lost the doubles rubber against Argentina in February, but the pair won the Zhangjiagang Challenger two weeks ago, and last week reached the semi-finals of the Shanghai Challenger. Also in Shanghai, Nam went on a run from qualifying all the way to the quarter-finals in singles, including a win over up-and-coming Japanese hope Rei Sakamoto – the final game of which went viral for all the wrong reasons for Rei.

Park Ui-sung may get the call again or, depending on fitness, Hong or Kwon may be pressed into doubles service too.

While Korea’s home tie with Argentina in February took place in a converted gymnastics hall on the side of a motorway, this time the tie comes to the heart of Seoul and the home of Korean tennis, the cavernous Center Court of the Olympic Park Tennis Centre.

The stadium, which next week will host a WTA 250 event, has been remodelled for the first time in decades with new seats in the upper tiers finally replacing the original seats that were installed for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. As Rohit Rajpal noted, the court surface has been re-laid too, with it anticipated to be on the slow side.