India lose 0-4 to Sweden

Stockholm, Sep 15: Ramkumar Ramanathan and N Sriram Balaji could play well only in patches in the do-or-die doubles encounter and later Siddharth Vishwakarma lost on debut as India went down 0-4 to Sweden in the Davis Cup World Group I tie, here Sunday.
After losing both the singles on Saturday, India needed to win the third rubber to stay alive in the tie but Ramkumar and Balaji went down 3-6, 4-6 against Andre Goransson and Filip Bergevi in one hour and 19 minutes to concede an unassailable 0-3 lead.
India’s dismal record against Sweden in the Davis Cup continued as it was the team’s sixth defeat in as many ties.
The reverse singles were rendered inconsequential and it gave captain Rohit Rajpal chance to test former national champion Siddharth, who lost 2-6, 2-6 to Elias Ymer.
It was India’s best chance to beat Sweden despite having a depleted squad but the players could not grab their opportunities.
India will now compete next year in the Play-offs to keep place in World Group I. (PTI)