Big-serving Dhakshineswar Suresh wins three matches against The Netherlands in Davis Cup tie to emerge as India’s new tennis star
4 min readUpdated: Feb 8, 2026 11:07 PM IST
Dhakshineswar Suresh, got the Bangalore crowd roaring and chanting and repeatedly warned by the chair umpire as the big-serving Indian lit up the SM Krishna stadium, battling in the fifth match of the Davis Cup playoff against The Netherlands. Having combined with Yuki Bhambri, to put India 2-1 ahead in doubles match, he was summoned back to play the decisive 5th March against Guy Den Ouden, with a set up and 5-5 apiece in the second set. The Madurai player ultimately prevailed 6-4, 7-6 as India won the tie 3-2.
Chants of DK DK DK, reverberated as the kick on his bazooka serves flew off in Bangalore.
The strapping former Collegiate player, continued to impress, backing his win against Dutchman, Jesper De Jong, with a win in doubles alongside Yuki Bhambri to put India 2-1 up in their Davis Cup tie.
Not only did his serves rise with killer kicks, he also displayed great movement rushing to the net with aggressive volleys and some crunching forehands hit from wide.
Sumit Nagal had gone down in three sets, in the reverse singles bringing the hulking DK back to play the 5th.
Earlier, Yuki and Suresh won a thrilling doubles game against David Pel and Sander Arends 7-6 (0), 3-6, 7-6 (1) on Sunday, after captain Rohit Rajpal replaced Sriram Balaji with Suresh, who had caused a stir with the big win on Saturday.
Known for his big booming aggressive game, Suresh had taken a liking to the Bangalore conditions straight away. “I think my big serves and big forehand troubled De Jong the most,” Suresh told DavisCup.com after his win. “In conditions like Bengaluru, the high altitude, the ball travels faster. So, it’s tough to control the ball when I’m hitting the ball hard. I was feeling good that I was able to put him in uncomfortable situations throughout the match,” he said even as the home crowd roared on, as India went 1-1 level. The singles World No 456 then returned to win on doubles duty.
While Yuki brambled through his serve, getting broken five times, he eventually came good in the tie break as Indians took the first set 7-0 agter an hour and 40 minutes. In the third set tie break, both Indians did well to once again raise the tempo in the tie break and give India a chance of cracking the European side.
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India had lost their last three doubles to Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, but a relaxed Yuli, riding his highest doubles ranking and the magic of D Suresh helped them finally crack a European pair, with Eye of the Tiger blaring.
Should the tie head into a fifth match, Guy Den Ouden who impressed against a just returning Sumit Nagal, will need taming. Nagal who was coming off a three week rehab lost 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 after two hours and 31 minutes.
“I had a clear plan of how I wanted to play,” Den Ouden had told DavisCup.com. “I played Sumit last year in Prague but I didn’t have too many expectations. It was really a big battle to finish it in the end. I was up 4-1 in the third and then every game was a hustle. The balls were getting old and it started to get more physical, the long rallies. Every game, I had to be there.”
India-Netherlands are overall 2-2 in head-to-heads over the years, but DK Suresh offers an opportunity to make headway in Bangalore.
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