Davis Cup: India No 2's ability a worry for Seppi

KOLKATA: Andreas Seppi is the only player in this Italian team who considers grass, apart from clay, as his favourite surface. So fittingly, he got ‘promoted' to Italy's No. 1 for the Davis Cup Qualifier against India after the 19th-ranked Marco Cecchinato was ignored in singles and named for the doubles rubber.
The senior pro, ranked 37th in the world, will face India No.2 Ramkumar Ramanathan - who is almost 100 places below him - in the tie-opener on Friday. But Seppi sounded cautious on Thursday, aware that Ramkumar has the caliber to beat higher-ranked opponents on grass. "He can play very well on this surface. He played the final in Newport last year. He is very dangerous and does a lot of serve and volley, so it's not going to be easy. Every match is difficult and I have to be ready for the challenge," said Seppi after the draw ceremony.
Davis Cup is a team sport, but getting Italy on the board with the first win will surely serve as a confidence booster. "I will try my best to get the opening point and put Italy in the lead. In Davis Cup, it doesn't matter who wins as long as we get those three points," he said.