TIL Desk Sports/ Not ruling themselves out even after falling behind 0-2, captain Mahesh Bhupathi on Friday said India paid the price for not making the most of the opportunities in their first singles rubber against former champions Italy in the Davis Cup World Group qualifier tie here on Friday.
India’s top two singles players Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan were swept aside by Italy’s senior-most player Andreas Seppi and rising star Matteo Berrettini to hand Italy a commanding 2-0 lead going into the second day’s play.
While 22-year-old Berrettini was head and shoulders above Prajnesh, who he beat in the Chengdu ATP last year, sealing the tie in less than an hour, Ramkumar frittered away two break points in the first set to turn the tide in Seppi’s favour. “We had half-a-chance early there in the first set of the first match and we didn’t take it.
“When you are playing players who have so much experience and are used to playing at a level you have to take your chances. We didn’t at 3-4, 30-40. I am a firm believer that if you take your chances, you will get rewarded. That’s where the momentum swung,” Bhupathi told reporters.
