Davis Cup 2026: Uphill battle for India against Netherlands – Preview

Hosts India will have an uphill battle when they commence their tie against a higher-ranked Netherlands in the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers at the SM Krishna Tennis Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.

Though the head-to-head record between the two teams stand at 2 wins apiece, the Netherlands are ranked world No 6 as compared to India's lowly spot at world No 33.

Sumit Nagal will lead the charge for India, going up against Guy Den Ouden in the first singles tie on Saturday. This will be followed by the young Dhakshineswar Suresh facing off against Jesper de Jong to conclude the first day of play.

"Home advantage exists in any sport. In tennis, for example, when I played at the Olympics, I had five people cheering for me in front of 7,000 French supporters," said Nagal ahead of the tie.

"Obviously, when you are playing in such conditions for three to four hours, it makes a huge difference. We are hoping that the Netherlands players experience the same thing tomorrow, and that we can make it happen for however long they are on court," he added.

The second day will witness a doubles clash, between N. Sriram Balaji-Yuki Bhambri and Sander Arends-David Pel. This will be followed by two reverse singles matches.

One of the major highlights of the draw on Friday was the replacement of Ritwik Choudary with N. Sriram Balaji in the men’s doubles pairing.

Explaining the decision, captain Rohit Rajpal said, "We felt that Bala has been playing tournaments back-to-back. He just played in Bahrain, had a very good result, and then came here. Ritwik has also been playing very well, so it was a difficult decision."

The Netherlands team will be led by captain Paul Haarhuis, who was also a part of the Davis Cup tie against India in Jaipur back in 1996.

"Our women’s team recently played the Billie Jean King Cup here, so I spoke to them to understand the conditions better. We’ve been in Bengaluru for almost three weeks now, and I’ve played here before as well. It’s a great city and a fantastic venue, and we’re really looking forward to playing in front of the crowd," Haarhuis said.

Where to Watch?

You can catch all the LIVE action from the 2026 Davis Cup Qualifiers between India and Netherlands on DD Sports. Alternatively, you can also LIVE stream it on Prasar Bharti YouTube channel.