Leander Paes on win over Pakistan: \'It was an important victory for us\'
India had progressed to the 2020 Qualifiers after securing a 4-0 lead against Pakistan in the Davis Cup on Saturday.
New Delhi: Veteran tennis player Leander Paes on Monday termed India's Davis Cup win over Pakistan as an 'important victory'.
India had progressed to the 2020 Qualifiers after securing a 4-0 lead against Pakistan in the Davis Cup on Saturday.
"It was an important victory for us, there was a lot of noise before the tie, but what important was that India played on the neutral territory in Kazakightan and defeated Pakistan 4-0," Paes told ANI.
India completed a 4-0 win after Sumit Nagal defeated Yousef Kalil 6-1 6-0 in 32 minutes long clash.
"It is a special tie for us, I really want to commend our captain Rohit Rajpal he did a fantastic job in getting the team together," said Paes.
Tennis player Ramkumar Ramanathan trounced Pakistan's Muhammad Shoaib in two straight-sets 6-0, 6-0.
"The victory is always very special, as the emotions are very different when you are playing against Pakistan," Rohit Rajpal told ANI.
"I like to thank Leander Paes who raised his hands and all the team members. Sumit Nagal, support staff and everybody else had also put on a wonderful effort," he added.
Paes paired with debutant Nedunchezhiyan bettered his own Davis Cup record by winning his 44th doubles match against teenagers Mohammed Shoaib and Hufaiza Abdul Rehman 6-1, 6-3 in just 53 minutes.
"There is a different type of flare when you defeat Pakistan and besides this, the record by Leander is in itself a big thing," Satish Upadhyay told ANI.
The Qualifiers will take place on March 6-7 next year, where India will face two-time Davis Cup champions Croatia.
The 12 winners of the Qualifiers will join the six teams that have already booked their place in the Davis Cup Finals -- Spain, Canada, Great Britain, Russia, France, and Serbia.