We had people stand up when it mattered, says NZ skipper Tom Latham
New Zealand captain Tom Latham on Sunday said it will take time to sink in that his team has whitewashed India 3-0 at home for the first time in its history.
India defeated New Zealand 4-1 in Asian Oceania Group 1 Davis Cup tie here on Sunday.
Following the win, India will now take on Uzbekistan in the second round of the Asia-Oceania Group I in April.
Ramkumar Ramanathan and Yuki Bhambri won their respective reverse singles matches to hand India a comfortable victory at the Balewadi Sports Complex here.
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Ramanathan outplayed Tearney in straight sets 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 while Bhambri edged past Jose Statham 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to seal the spot in the second round.
The first set was evenly contested but it was Ramanathan who proved superior and defeated the Kiwi 7-5.
The second and third games witnessed Ramanathan at his best. He outclassed his opponent in every department of the game.
In the second match, Statham put up a fight to the Indian player but eventually surrendered the first set 5-7.
The 24-year-old Indian player made a good comeback in the first set, winning four games on the trot to come back from 2-5 down and win the set 7-5.
In the second set, Statham bounced back in style with some swift court movements to beat Bhambri 6-3.
In the decider, the Indian player pressurised the 29-year-old right from the start. He played some quality game to clinch the set 6-3.
Earlier, Bhambri and Ramanathan both won their men's singles matches to give India a crucial 2-0 lead against the visitors on Friday. After that, Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan went down in the third rubber to Artem Sitak and Michael Venus on Saturday.
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