Saketh Myneni and Yuki Bhambri recorded dominating straight-set victories as India completed a 5-0 rout of Chinese Taipei in the first round of their Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie, here today.
Myneni, who contributed in India's doubles win yesterday, carried his good form into the singles rubber as captain decided to play him in place of Somdev Devvarman, who won a marathon singles against Ti Chen.
This is the first time after 2005 that India have recorded a whitewash over an opponent.
The 26-year-old Myneni, ranked 313, took just 48 minutes to dispatch higher-ranked Tsung Hua Yang 6-1 6-4 in the dead fourth rubber to put India on the cusp of a whitewash.
Hsien-Yin Peng, who played in place of Ti Chen, fought his heart out to get that elusive win for his side but Yuki Bhambri was too good for him.
The 22-year-old closed the tie with an impressive 7-5 6-0 scoreline in the second reverse singles, which lasted just 55 minutes.
Yuki played with complete authority for his second win in the tie and was hardly troubled by Peng, who was nonetheless impressive with his ground strokes.
Peng had nothing to lose so he gave everything to the contest but Yuki was too strong for him.
India now lead Chinese Taipei 2-0 in head-to-head record having beaten them in an away tie in 2009. India will now travel to Korea in April to fight for a place in the World Group play-offs.
The scoreline may suggest otherwise but the way Ti Chen pushed Somdev in the second singles and the tremendous pressure put up by the Chinese doubles pair of Peng and Yang against Rohan Bopanna and Myneni yesterday, India had to work hard for a win in the first two days of the tie.
