Ramkumar Ramanathan gave India a winning start in their Davis Cup World Group Play-Off when he battled past Brayden Schnur 5-7 7-6(4) 7-5 7-5 in Edmonton on Friday.
The 22-year-old Ramkumar, ranked 154, needed three hours and 16 minutes to get the better of the Canadian debutant to maintain his all-win record in the Davis Cup in 2017.
Yuki Bhambri will now take on world number 51 Denis Shapovalov in the second singles.
World number 202 Schnur was first off the blocks as he attacked the Indian’s loopy ground strokes and took the opening set as the fans smelled a possible upset.
But Ramkumar kept his nerves and his big serves helped him bail out of difficult situations as the 22-year-old saved as many as 15 out of the 18 breakpoints against him.
The fourth set was littered with breaks but eventually, Ramkumar sealed the match with a backhand winner, again well set up with a quality service.
