Usually, the days after a Davis Cup weekend result in a flurry of activity for the Indian team, as members prepare to depart to their next destination on the ATP tour, resuming their pursuit of points on the professional circuit after three days of playing for the country.

After Australia’s refusal to travel to Chennai for the third-round Asia Oceania Zone 1 tie and the subsequent default, though, the usual scheme of things didn’t quite prevail for the weekend of May 8-10 as India didn’t need to win a single rubber to make it to the World Group play-offs in September. But Tuesday’s play-offs draw, that pointed to South Africa as their next opponents, ensures that a place among the Davis Cup elite won’t be quite so easy to guarantee, particularly since the tie happens to be an away one.

India’s No 1 singles player Somdev Devvarman though is quite optimistic about his team’s chances in the tie. “It’s a good draw for us. It’ll definitely be tough as SA have quality players like Kevin Anderson. But I’m looking forward to going there and competing,” the 23-year-old told The Indian Express.

Non-playing captain SP Mishra also felt India had a good shot at making it to the World Group for the first time since 1998 — which is incidentally the last time South Africa were part of the top Davis Cup nations too. “This is a tie we can definitely win. I think it’s a favourable draw, because there were many more dangerous nations like Switzerland, etc we could have come up against,” said Mishra.

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