Davis Cup: Sumit Nagal guides India to win over Switzerland

Sumit Nagal capped his return to the Davis Cup fold by clinching the first reverse singles match and guiding India to 3-1 victory over Switzerland in Biel on Saturday.After Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli lost a tightly contested doubles match to give the hosts a glimmer of hope, Nagal clinically dismantled 18-year-old Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3 to seal the tie for Rohit Rajpal’s team.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The win meant India advanced to the Qualifiers next year. The last time they had reached that stage was in March 2020 when they travelled to Croatia, and lost 1-3 to a side spearheaded by Marin Cilic.But the last time India won a tie in Europe was in 1993 when Ramesh Krishnan and Leander authored a thrilling 3-2 win over France in a World Group quarterfinal.
“It has been a while since we won in Europe. We have all been working hard,” Nagal said after his win over Bernet, the 2025 Australian Open boys’ champion and a former world junior No. 1.Switzerland’s captain opted to roll the dice and change the nomination for reverse singles, bringing in Bernet in place of Jerome Kym.Bernet, with a single-handed that reminded one more of Stan Wawrinka than the other more illustrious Swiss, showed glimpses of his potential in the second set after being blown away in the first. But Nagal, a former world No. 68, packed too much firepower and experience.Earlier, Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker edged Balaji and Bollipalli 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5.