Davis Cup: India completes formalities in quick time, seal World Group 1 spot

India dominates Davis Cup tie against Togo, securing World Group 1 spot with strong doubles win and Karan Singh's debut victory.

India completed the formalities in quick time, claiming the doubles match to take an unassailable lead in its Davis Cup tie against Togo and seal its place in the World Group 1 at the DLTA Stadium on Sunday (February 2, 2025). Karan Singh then made his Davis Cup debut with a fighting 6-2, 6-3 victory against Hod’abalo Isak Padio to wrap up the tie 4-0.

N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli won 6-2, 6-1 in 57 minutes against the late pairing of M’lapa Tingou Akomlo and Padio, the former stepping in as replacement for Thomas Setodji, Togo’s best player but struggling with an arm injury that saw him put up a below-par performance in his singles game on Saturday.

Led by the experienced Balaji, who lost just one point on his serve through the match, and buoyed by the constantly improving serve of Bollipalli, the Indians were in control all the time, continuing from where the singles left off on Day One. In contrast, while Padio, the youngest in the Togo team, largely responsible for giving a semblance of fightback, Akomlo was erratic, both with his serves and his returns.

The Indians got their first break when Akomlo served in the fourth game, hitting one over the baseline to go ahead 3-1. It soon became 5-2 before Akomlo handed over Game 8 and the set to India with two consecutive double faults. The second set was more of the same, India racing to 5-1 before Bollipalli, serving for the match, finished it off with an ace.

Later Karan, stepping in to play the reverse singles, started strongly to justify the team’s faith in him, winning in an hour and 12 minutes against Padio. The two youngsters put up the best competition of the tie, Padio constantly engaging Karan in long rallies and mixing his shots to keep the Indian alert but eventually paid the price for his inability to control the pace and angle of his shots, repeatedly hitting wide and over to cede control.

Winning the first set 6-2, Karan raced to a 4-0 lead in the second but Padio finally found his groove, breaking him in Game 5 for the only serve taken off an Indian player in the tie. He held his own thereafter before Karan closed out at 6-3 and the 5th dead rubber was called off.

N Sriram Balaji/Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli bt M’lapa Tingou Akomlo/Hod’abalo Isak Padio 6-2, 6-1; Karan Singh bt Hod’abalo Isak Padio 6-2, 6-3.