The Netherlands will face India in the Davis Cup Qualifiers on February 7-8 in Bengaluru, India. However, the Dutch team will be without their top-ranked singles players, Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp.
Griekspoor is the Dutch No. 1 and is ranked 25th in the world, while Van de Zandschulp is ranked 75th. Their absence is notable, as they are the most experienced singles players for the Netherlands.
The team will instead be led by Jesper de Jong, who is ranked 71st in singles, and Guy den Ouden, who is placed 158th. David Pel, ranked 27th in doubles, and Sander Arends, ranked 35th, will lead the doubles challenge.
The Royal Dutch Lawn Tennis Association's decision to leave out Griekspoor and Van de Zandschulp could be influenced by the fact that the Netherlands is hosting an ATP 500 event in Rotterdam around the same time as the Davis Cup tie.
The Netherlands were without Griekspoor in their last tie against Argentina, which they lost 1-3. In that tie, de Jong made his debut and was the only player to win a match, while Van de Zandschulp lost his singles match and later a doubles match with Arends.
India will be led by Sumit Nagal, ranked 275th, and Dhakshineswar Suresh, ranked 521st. Karan Singh, ranked 466th, is the third singles option for the hosts. Sriram Balaji has been dropped from the squad. The team also includes Yuki Bhambri and Rithvik Bollipalli. Aryan Shah, Anirudh Chandrasekar, and Digvijay Pratap Singh are the reserves. Rohit Rajpal is the captain, and Ashutosh Singh is the coach. Prajwal Dev and Arnav Paparkar will join the training camp as practice partners.
India is ranked 33rd in the Davis Cup team standings, while the Netherlands is ranked fourth. The Netherlands were runners-up in the 2024 Davis Cup.
India earned their place in the 2026 Qualifiers after a 3-1 win over Switzerland in their Davis Cup 2025 World Group I tie. This will be India's first Davis Cup Qualifiers appearance since the tournament format was revamped in 2019. The winner of the India-Netherlands tie will progress to the second round of the qualifiers. The losers will be relegated to World Group I.
Sumit Nagal believes that India can upset the Netherlands, despite their strong team. He stated that the Indian team is playing well and that the tie will be close. Nagal also noted that the altitude in Bengaluru could be a factor in the tie. Bengaluru is situated at around 920 metres above sea level, which can cause the ball to bounce higher.
