City-based national tennis coach Nandan Bal, who guided his team to a historic Davis Cup victory against hosts South Africa on Sunday — when India qualified for the World Group for the first time in 11 years— emphasised that gritty performance in the singles matches was the reason for achieving this feat.

Speaking to The Indian Express on Monday, Bal said he is particularly happy about the flawless single’s record. “Over-dependence on the doubles pairing of Bhupathi and Paes has been an age-old problem of the Indian Davis Cup team. That we won all four encounters against South Africa proves we are moving forward”, he said.

“Physical fitness and heart,” according to Bal, won Somdev Devvarman the game. “I was reminded of Bhupathi’s fairytale comeback against Chilean Gabriel Silberstei— ¿ when we last qualified for the World Group in 19—7 ¿ when Somdev won on Sunday”, he said.

“His reaction to skipper Shiv Prakash Misra’s encouraging words assured the team that the match, in which he was two sets down, was far from over. “He kept saying that he would win even if it took all day. And it did take all day”, he added.

“Devvarman and Rik De Voest know each other well. They share a coach and have similar playing styles. What separated them in Sunday’s showdown was Devvarman’s grit and determination,” Bal said. “I just told him to be himself and that’s what he did. He never gave up.”

The match may have been dominated by Devvarman’s brilliance but Bal felt the turning point was Rohan Bopanna’s come-from-behind victory against Rik De Voest ¿ South Africa’s No. 1 player, who received vociferous crowd support. “He (Bopanna) was walloped in the first set and the crowd was really into the match. To come back the way he did took guts and it inspired the entire team”, he said.

... contd.