Somdev Devavarman today said the equation has certainly changed in the Asia/Oceania Group I tie with Chinese Taipei not having their top two players, but insisted that they won't take the visitors lightly since possibility of upsets is more in Davis Cup matches.
Taipei will not have the services of world number 54 Yen-Hsun Lu and Jimmy Wang (154) and will be led by Tsung-Hua Yang, who is ranked 216.
"Definitely it changes the equation. The top two guys are extremely tough but having said that, tennis is an individual game and everyone is capable of good wins. Everyone who has played at this level, has had upsets, has made upsets. On any given day anyone can beat anyone in Davis Cup. It has happened," Somdev, who is the highest-ranked player in the tie at 103, said after a two-hour practice session.
"No complacency whatsoever. We are taking this tie extremely serious," he added.
Talking about his form as he did not have a good start to season, suffering defeats in first round of Chennai Open and Australian Open, Somdev said it won't matter much.
"I did not play my best on that day (against Ramkumar Ramanathan) and in Australia as well, unfortunately that guy (Feliciano Lopez) was better than me on that day. I would have loved to have more matches coming. But whether you are in good form or not your approach towards playing a Davis Cup match does not change," said Somdev here at Indore Tennis Club.
"I have been practicing incredibly hard in the last couple of weeks. You are going to be nervous, playing for your country. Hopefully this time we play better."
Somdev will play the second singles against 284th-ranked Ti Chen, against whom he enjoys a 2-0 record. He defeated Chen in 2009 in a Davis Cup tie and then at the Asian Games in 2010. However, Somdev refused to be labelled as an outright favourite against Chen.
"The last couple of times I won but it's long time ago, so don't want to take anything lightly. Like Anand has said, it's going to be a tough match for us, very tricky. So we are doing all the things we can do to best prepare for it and give our best shot tomorrow," he said.
