Powered by Yibing, China take 2-0 lead against India

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China is well poised to script a historic Davis Cup win against India after taking a 2-0 lead on the opening day of the Asia Oceania Davis Cup tie in Tianjin on Friday. In the opening rubber, China’s 18-year-old sensation Wu Yibing outclassed India’s no. 1 singles player Ramkumar Ramanathan, ranked 132nd, in straight sets to draw the first blood.

Firing on all cylinders, Wu, who claimed a single and doubles titles during a US Open in September, faced some resistance from his higher ranked Indian opponent in the opening set but the 332nd-ranked Chinese eventually clinched the set in a tie-breaker. Then he broke Ramanathan in the 3rd game of the second set and held on to it to win the set 6-4 as well as the match.

In the second rubber of the day, Zhang Ze put a gritty performance against India’s Sumit Nagpal to give the hosts a crucial 2-0 lead. Zhang, ranked 247th, outclassed his 213rd-ranked Indian opponent without burning much sweat. The scoreline was 6-4, 6-1 in Zhang’s favor.

China’s Zhang Ze in action in Davis Cup. ‍/VCG File Photo

With China leading after the opening day’s rubbers, their doubles duo of Gong Maoxin and Wu Di will face an uphill task against multiple-Grand Slam winner Leander Paes, the most major winners for India till date, and last year’s French Open mixed doubles champion Rohan Bopanna tomorrow.

Saturday’s other singles rubbers will feature a match between Zhang and Ramanathan while the 5th and final rubber are scheduled between wonder kid Wu and Nagpal. Interestingly, a win in the doubles will help 44-year-old Paes become the winner of the most number of doubles matches in Davis Cup history. He is currently tied with Italy’s Nicola Pietrangeli with 42 wins.

Historically, India has a 3-0 win-loss record against China. India beat China 5-0 when the two teams met the last time in Delhi in 2005. Earlier, in 2001, at Langfan City, north China's Hebei Province, the Indians had pulled off a 3-2 victory while they had overpowered China 5-0 in Kolkata during their first-ever meeting in Davis Cup in 1999.

However, to buck the trend, the Chinese side need a single rubber win on Saturday in Tianjin to notch up their first-ever Davis Cup tie against India as they went down in all three of their past Davis Cup encounters.