Paes in Davis Cup squad for Croatia tie 

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) had to send its final squad to the International Tennis Federation (ITF) by Tuesday.

The national federation had initially announced a six-member squad for the Qualifiers tie, scheduled to be held in Zagreb on the hard courts on March 6-7. Croatia is the top-seeded team in the 24-team Qualifiers.

The 12 winners will qualify for the year-end Davis Cup Finals while the losing sides will be placed in the World Group I.

“We have sent our final team to the ITF today. Captain Rohit Rajpal had a chat with all the players before deciding on who is going to be the reserve player. He spoke to Divij as well, conveying that he will be the sixth member of the travelling side,” said an AITA source.

Sumit Nagal, Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ramkumar Ramanathan are the singles players in the squad while Paes and Rohan Bopanna will do the doubles duty.

Bopanna had skipped the last tie against Pakistan citing an injury, while Sharan was busy with his wedding reception at that time.

Paes and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan had played in that tie, held in Nur Sultan, Kazakhstan. “We have kept our options open. Coach Zeeshan and I will try allthe combinations. Divij remains in the mix,” non-playing captain Rajpal said.

“Paes has done well this season. He beat Divij in Pune during the Tata Open Maharashtra and also reached the final of the Bengaluru Open Challenger. So he is in good form. Also, 2020 is his last season, he deserves highest respect for serving the country for 30 years.”