Yuki Bhambri promised to return better in India’s next Davis Cup tie after the hosts blanked New Zealand 5-0 in the Asia-Oceania Group 1 relegation play-off on Sunday.
The 20-year-old spearheaded the Indian challenge, winning two singles matches, but his performance was far from his best. Yuki acknowledged that and felt he let the moment get the better of him.
“I was playing well till the last few weeks. But I guess the pressure of playing a Davis Cup match in front of home crowd got to me a bit. I was making errors in going for my strokes, I was not moving. I am certainly not happy the way I played but I happy to pull off the win for India,” Yuki said.
“I need to be more consistent, I would not have been let off had the opponent been better. I will work on it and hopefully it will be a lot better next time.”
Yuki said the tie proved to be a great learning experience for him. “It was a terrific tie and I will be taking a lot of positives from it.”
Team captain SP Misra said Yuki was not focused. “Strangely, he was not focused. He played well only in patches,” he said.
“He looked solid against Uzbekistan. May be mentally, (the fact) that he is the number one player, troubled him. But he will come around, I am sure.
“I am happy with the boys’ performance. They had prepared well and gave a good performance.”
Sanam Singh, was happy with his performance. “I am pretty happy. Motivation was never a factor. Playing for India is the biggest honour even if it is a dead rubber. “I had my chances in the first set. I felt better after taking a set led and then ran away with the second. I am satisfied.”
Asked about the secret behind his court-craft, Sanam said: “Because I am smaller in size!”
The heat and humidity posed a big challenge during the tie and Sanam admitted it could be “brutal” to play in such conditions. “I was born and brought up in Chandigarh.
It’s hottest I have seen in September. More than the heat, it is humidity that made it difficult. But we handled the conditions better and I am glad that we pulled it off,” said Sanam, who is yet to find a sponsor.
