Davis Cup: India to host Spain under flood-lights

In its endeavour to bring more fans to the stadium for watching the Indian Davis Cup team in action against formidable Spain, the DLTA has decided to conduct the World Group Play-off tie this month under flood-lights with singles matches starting at 5 in the evening.
The two singles matches on the opening day of the crucial tie on September 16, will begin at 5pm while the doubles rubber will start at 7pm, the next day.
The two reverse singles on the final day of tie will again start at 5pm in the evening.
The decision was taken at a recent DLTA Executive meeting.

The singles matches during the World Group Play-off tie against Serbia, held in September 2014, had begun at 3pm, so it can easily be said that this will be India's first ever tie, where the matches will begin so late in the evening.
"We want fans to come and cheer for the Indian players. We deliberated upon the idea how to bring more people to tennis stadium. We have kept those people in mind who have to attend offices during the day. They should not miss this opportunity to watch Indian as well Spanish tennis stars in action," a DLTA official told PTI.

"Also it's going to be very humid. The evening start will help players play to their best abilities. We spoke to players to discuss the idea and only after they agreed to it, it was decided to have matches in the evening," the official added.

The tie has already generated interest after Spanish icon Rafael Nadal, winner of 14 Grand Slam singles titles, stated that the India visit is on his schedule.
Although Nadal's availability for the tie would depend on how he performs at the US Open, the DLTA has done well by taking this decision.
The dwindling attendance at the cricket stadiums during the five-day Test matches had worried the sports administrators and organisers across the world are keenly experimenting with the idea of hosting Day/Night Test matches.

India have not lost to New Zealand in the last five ties
played between the two teams. They emerged victorious in 2015, 2012, 2004, 2003, 2002 and lost three ties (1978, 1976, 1975) out of eight played so far.
If India win the first round, they will clash with the winner of the other first round between Uzbekistan and Korea. If it's against Uzbekistan, it will be a home tie again but it will be an away fixture if it's against Korea for the second round, scheduled for April 7-9.
The home tie will give veteran Leander Paes, if he is picked in the team, a chance to create a world record of most doubles victories in the Davis Cup history.

He is tied on 42 wins with Italian legend Nicola Pietrangeli, who also owns the world record of most singles win (78).
Asked if AITA will continue to have Paes in the team, Oza said personally he would like to see youngsters in the side, looking at the future.
"We would like to have three singles players and one doubles. We will go by ranking," he said.
Rohan Bopanna (22) is higher-ranked than Paes (55) at this moment and if he makes himself available then the AITA could be faced with a tricky situation.
"We usually follow rankings but Leander's contribution is such that he will always be in picture," he said.