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Ahead of their Davis Cup 2025 clash against Togo, Indian Davis Cup captain Rohit Rajpal has high hopes from men's doubles pair of N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli who will take on Thomas Setodji and Padio Isak on Saturday.
The Indian tennis team will host Togo in the Davis Cup 2025 World Group I play-offs at the DLTA Complex in New Delhi on February 1 and 2. "We have an experienced player with Balaji there, who's been playing all the Grand Slams and Rithvik now coming in. We've had a lot of practise sessions together, they combine well, there is good camaraderie, good energy between them. So we're hopeful that they'll do the job for India," Rohit Rajpal said while speaking to ANI. India, 38th in the Davis Cup rankings, will take on world No. 73 Togo after the African nation earned promotion to the World Group I play-offs for the 2025 Davis Cup following a 3-2 win over Indonesia in the 2024 World Group II play-offs. After overcoming Indonesia, Togo also upset world No. 46 Latvia 4-0 in their last World Group II tennis tie and are currently on a ten-match winning streak which has seen them get the better of several higher-ranked opponents. The four-member Togo team for the World Group I play-offs against India will feature M'lapa Akomlo, Padio Isak, Liova Ajavon and Thomas Setodji. Alisama Agnamba will be the captain of the side. India, on the other hand, had beaten Pakistan 4-0 in the 2024 play-offs to qualify for the World Group I before dropping down to the Group I play-offs following a defeat to Sweden. Sumit Nagal, India's top-ranked singles tennis player at world No. 106, pulled out of the Davis Cup 2025 tie against Togo. Yuki Bhambri, 47th in the ATP tennis rankings for doubles, also made himself unavailable for the tie. In the absence of the two seasoned players, Sasikumar Mukund, world No. 406 Ramkumar Ramanathan and Karan Singh, ranked 496th in the ATP rankings, are in line to feature in singles vs Togo. N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli are expected to play the doubles rubber while Rohit Rajpal is the non-playing captain of the squad. World No. 365 Sasikumar is the best-ranked singles player in the Indian squad and returns to the national team after the All India Tennis Association (AITA) Executive Committee rescinded his suspension. He missed India's Davis Cup tie against Sweden in Stockholm last September. India and Togo have never met on the Davis Cup stage before. Davis Cup 2025 schedule: India vs Togo tennis matches and draw February 1, Saturday: Day 1 - 12:00 PM IST onwardsSasikumar Mukund vs Liova Ajavon Ramkumar Ramanathan vs Thomas Setodji February 2, Sunday: Day 2 - 12:00 PM IST onwards. N Sriram Balaji/ Rithvik Bollipalli vs Thomas Setodji/ Padio Isak Mukund Sasikumar vs Thomas Setodji Ramkumar Ramanathan vs Liova Ajavon. (ANI)
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