Davis Cup 2026: India vs Netherlands tennis tied 1

A brilliant upset win by Dhakshineswar Suresh at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday helped India end the opening day of its Davis Cup 2026 Qualifiers tie against the Netherlands tied at 1-1.

India fell behind after Sumit Nagal, the top Indian singles player in the tennis rankings at world No. 281, lost 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 against the 162nd-ranked Guy Den Ouden.

However, the 25-year-old Suresh, ranked 465th in the world, levelled the scores for the hosts after stunning world No. 88 Jasper de Jong 6-4, 7-5.

Opening the proceedings for the match, Sumit Nagal made a slow start to the tennis match and failed to win a single game in the opening set.

However, the 28-year-old Indian tennis player recovered brilliantly in the second set as he held all his serves whilst managing a decisive break in the seventh game to stretch the match into a decider.

Ouden took the early initiative in the third set and broke Nagal in the second game to go 3-0 ahead.

The Indian struck back by breaking Ouden in the seventh game again but the Dutch player struck back immediately with a break of his own and proceeded to close out the contest in two and a half hours.

The second match saw Suresh go toe-to-toe against an opponent ranked 377 places better than him from the outset. Both players held their serves before the Indian broke the Dutchman in the all decisive 10th game of the first set to take a surprise lead.

Jasper de Jong fought hard to respond in the second set but Suresh matched his illustrious opponent shot for shot and serve for serve. Neither player blinked as the set seem destined to go into a tiebreaker with the score at 6-5 and de Jong serving.

Suresh, however, stepped up at the crucial juncture and raced to a 40-0 lead. De Jong managed to save a couple of match points but the Indian persevered to close out the match in just under one-and-a-half hours.

With the score level, both teams will have everything to play for on Sunday to win the best-of-five tie.

Proceedings will start with Olympian N Sriram Balaji and in-form Yuki Bhambri taking on Sander Arends and David Pel in the doubles rubber before Nagal faces de Jong and Suresh goes head-to-head against Guy Den Ouden in the reverse singles matches.

This is the first time India is playing in the Davis Cup Qualifiers since the competition format was revamped in 2019. The Indian tennis team has finished as Davis Cup runners-up in 1966, 1974 and 1987.

Click here to read article