India staring at relegation after Italy take 2-0 lead

Kolkata: The gamble of playing on grass did not work out for hosts India, at least on the opening day, as Italy lived up to their reputation to win both the singles in the Davis Cup Qualifiers at the Calcutta South Club here on Friday.

Andreas Seppi experienced some early hiccups before getting past Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-4, 6-2 in the opening rubber, while 22-year-old Matteo Berrettini made a winning Davis Cup debut, cruising past India number one Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4, 6-3.

With 0-2 down, India's doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan finds itself in a must-win situation on Saturday.

For Italy, top-ranked singles player Marco Cecchinato was paired with Simone Bolelli, the 2015 Australian Open winner in the doubles.

"Focus is on tomorrow. We know we have a job at hand. It will be a lot harder. No time to give up now," non-playing captain Mahesh Bhupathi told reporters after the opening day's struggles. Riding on Barrettini's superlative show in the second singles rubber, Italy captain Corrado Barazzutti hinted that they might change their doubles combination on Saturday to put themselves in a better position for sealing the Davis Cup World Group qualifier tie here.

Barrettini outclassed India's No 1 singles player Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4, 6-3 in less than an hour to hand Italy a 2-0 lead after Andreas Seppi made short work of India's second highest-ranked Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first rubber. Italy have named their top-ranked player Marco Cecchinato and Simone Bolelli for the doubles tie against Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan. But non-playing skipper Barazzutti said at the press conference that they might rejig the formation.

"We still have time to discuss about that. We can change the doubles combination one hour before the match. We still have time to change the team," he said. Praising Barrettini who hit six aces against Prajnesh and converted three break points, Barazzutti said the 22-year-old played like a veteran. "Matteo played very, very well. He played like a veteran, like he played many Davis Cup matches. This was a first time for me. He really made a great match."

Barrettini said his Swiss Open triumph last year in Gstaad over second seed Roberto Bautista Agut changed his career.