Biggest win of my life so far, says Vishnu

Vishnu Vardhan said India’s Davis Cup victory over New Zealand is the best that has happened to him and dedicated the win to the whole team.

India took an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the Asia-Oceania relegation play off thanks to Vishnu’s back to back victories in the second singles and the doubles, that went to five sets.

 “It’s the best thing that has happened to me. I dedicate this win to the whole team. S P sir, Nandan sir, Vece sir, they have huge experience behind them. Divij was incredible today, Yuki gave us the lead. It was more about the heart and not just tennis,” Vishnu told reporters on Saturday.

Vishnu admitted he was fatigued by the end of third set. “In the morning I stayed aggressive and played to me strengths,” he said. “But  it was a long day, a lot of emotions were there. It was a great effort by Divij. I was not injured but felt muscle stiffness towards the end of the third set. We had figured out the strategy. I just had to stay relaxed and take a lot of fluids.

“I have seen Mahesh do that. Leander did that in the Pakistan tie in Bombay. I knew I would recover. But it was a great effort by Divij to keep me relaxed and keep the momentum going at the same time.”

Divij, who was making his debut in the Davis Cup, was modest in his response. “I did not do much. But hats off to Vishnu, he played six sets today. We came strong in the fifth set and stuck together. I was not trying hard. We had a spot to serve and stuck to that.
“The last two days, I was very tense. It was natural. But everyone was supportive. It was familiar territory once I was on the court.”

Non-playing captain SP Misra praised the efforts of young team. “Their confidence will go high after this tie. There were hiccups today. But Vishnu recovered very fast. Once he got back to his normal self, I was confident that we will win. Also, Yuki gave us the lead that took the pressure off in the next two matches.”

New Zealand captain Marcel Vos congratulated the Indian team. “We are obviously disappointed. We came here to win. India has a fine team of youngsters and I congratulate them. We will take the positive from the tie,” said Vos.
New Zealand will now be playing an away tie in Chinese Taipei in the second round of relegation play-off next month.