India beat Switzerland to enter Davis Cup qualifiers for first time

India sealed historic progress to the Davis Cup qualifiers on Saturday, 13 September, after Sumit Nagal overpowered Swiss teenager Henry Bernet 6-1, 6-3 in the decisive reverse singles, securing a 3-1 win in the World Group I tie at Zurich.

This marks India’s first-ever entry into the qualifiers and their first away win in Europe in 32 years, since beating France in 1993.

Nagal stepped in after the doubles pair of N. Sriram Balaji and Rithvik Bollipalli went down in a close contest to Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker 6-7(3), 6-4, 5-7. India had started the tie strongly with singles victories on Friday from Nagal and debutant Dhakshineshwar Suresh.

💫🇮🇳 DEFEATED 2014 Davis Cup Champions 🇨🇭in Their home in World Group 1 Tie (3-1) to qualify for World Qualifiers R1.

↪️Sumit Nagal won both his matches Meanwhile Debutant D Suresh Made a huge Upset to help India to Beat 🇨🇭.#DavisCup2025 #IndianTennis pic.twitter.com/8jRfF5mRuT

— Navin Mittal (@NavinSports) September 13, 2025

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“It means a lot. It’s been a while since we won in Europe. We pushed each other hard, and I’m very happy,” said Nagal, playing his first Davis Cup tie since September 2023.

The win is also captain Rohit Rajpal’s biggest success since taking charge in 2019, after a string of losses to European teams. His decision to back reserve player Suresh on Day 1 proved decisive.

Rajpal's bold move to play reserve player Dhakshineshwar on the opening day also played a crucial role in team's memorable win.

The Davis Cup qualifiers will be held in January 2026.

With PTI inputs