India are favourites on grass court: Legendary Vijay Amritraj on Davis Cup tie vs Denmark

Davis Cup final thrice, in 1966, 1974 and 1987. But, for the Indian tennis stalwart Vijay Amritraj, the title clash against the much-fancied Swedish side at the Scandinavium in Gothenburg in 1987 will always hold a special place of pride in his heart. Although India lost 5-0 in the summit clash, it was the visiting team’s impressive run in the 'World Cup of tennis' – especially the come-from-behind 3-2 win against Australia in the semifinals – that made everyone sit up and take notice of the country's charge in the racquet sport.

"Well, reaching the finals of the three Davis Cup will always have the pride of place in my house. But, the one right there on the top has to be the 1987 finals where we had lost to Sweden. The whole journey was kind of a special moment for us because we certainly weren't the second best team in the world.

Considering all the rankings and participating nations, still we were able to put together a cohesive team and train well. All the team members and managers shared a great rapport," Amritraj recalled. "So, we really got along well and, by the time we got to the final, it was just amazing.

Talking about the 1974 campaign, needless to say, we defaulted the match in South Africa protesting apartheid for all the right reasons. I think the important aspect of it meant a lot to me because it was really more of a momentum of that default to South Africa than anything else," added the player-turned-sports commentator. Amritraj, who had made it to the quarterfinals at both Wimbledon (1973 and 1981) and the US Open (1973 and 1974), also fondly touched upon the team's brilliant victory against Australia at home during India's 1974 Davis Cup final dash.