NEW DELHI, 1 FEB

Sasikumar Mukund returned to Davis Cup action with a fluent straight-set victory while Ramkumar Ramanathan hardly broke a sweat in his match as an untroubled India took a 2-0 lead in the WorldGroup I play-off tie against Togo, here Saturday.

Togo had promised a tough fight in the build-up, even warning the Indian skipper to not take them for granted but their performance belied the exceptional results they had enjoyed coming into this match.

There was not even a semblance of resistance from the players of the African nation, making it a pretty dull contest, watched by about 1500 fans.

The opening match of the tie went on expected lines with Liova Ayite Ajavon, languishing outside the top 1000, lacking ammunition to test the 365th-ranked Mukund in his home conditions.

The 28-year-old Indian needed just one hour and 15 minutes to walk away with a 6-2 6-1 win in the opening singles at the DLTA Complex.

Ramkumar then overpowered Togo number one Thomas Setodji 6-0 6-2 in the second singles which got over in just 50 minutes. A good fight was expected from Setodji but it turned out to be another lop-sided affair.

It seemed that Setodji ranked 1256, was not at his best as he struggled to put the ball across the net. With his right arm taped above and below the elbow, Setodji's returns lacked sting as he made a high number of unforced errors. His returns mostly fell on the net or flew over the lines.

Ramkumar lost just one point on his serve in the opening set, making high-quality serves while Setodji struggled to contain his unforced errors. He netted most of his returns and kept the points short.

Captain Rohit Rajpal did not need to get up from his chair even once as his players went about their business without fuss.

With a 2-0 lead in the pocket, N Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Choudary Bollipalli will look to seal India's place in the World Group I by winning the third rubber on Sunday.

Mukund, who missed Davis Cup action in the 2024 season by not making himself available for matches against Pakistan and Sweden, consistently returned on the backhand side of his opponent and charged to the net to make space for winners after moving Ajavon on both flanks effortlessly.

Mukund had an easy day in office but still Ajavon defended and returned well in long rallies that were expected on a slow surface. The Togolese player was largely left to defend.

The Indian often came to the net, looking for winners, and on one such attempt made a volley error that put him down by a breakpoint in the third game. He saved the chance and continued to charge to the net.

With Mukund feeding a lot of balls on the backhand side of Ajavon, the Togolese largely returned with slice shots.

Consecutive unforced errors put Ajavon down 0-40 in game four, and Mukund cashed in on the third chance to take a 3-1 lead.

There was hardly any change in tactics from Ajavon, who was now serving to stay in the set in game eight. At 15-all, his backhand slice just landed outside the line, and on the next point, he hit his forehand wide to give Mukund two break chances.

Mukund stayed strong in his returns and on the first set point, Ajavon hit a forehand long. In about 37 minutes, Mukund had taken the lead.

The second set remained lop-sided. A double break opened up a comfortable 4-0 cushion for Mukund, who closed the match in game seven after dropping his serve in game five.