New Delhi: Yuki Bhambri has opted out of the upcoming tie against Korea Republic as he has not recovered from his elbow injury, which means that Ramkumar Ramanathan will make his Davis Cup debut for India.
India will lock horns with Korea Republic in the Asia/Oceania Group I second round tie, the winner of which will advance to the World Group Play-offs.
Yuki had a very productive 2015 season when he broke into the top-100 but the elbow injury forced him to miss a few tournaments before the end of the season.
This year he has played only seven tournaments, winning only four matches. Reaching the semifinals of the Zuhai Challenger has been his best performance this season.
Saketh Myneni will now be India’s top-ranked singles players in the tie, to be held from July 15-17 at the Chandigarh Club.
Somdev Devvaraman is already out of the mix as he is nursing a foot injury and his ranking has plummeted to 331.
147th-ranked Myneni and 21-year-old Ramkumar, ranked 231, will play the singles while legendary Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna will play the doubles rubber.
Bopanna and Paes have been teamed up for the grass court tie so that they can tune up for the Rio Olympics.
PTI