Mumbai, Feb. 11 -- Last year, Dhakshineswar Suresh was far from doing the kind of things he did for India in Davis Cup over the weekend in Bengaluru. Not even among the country's top-five ranked singles players, he was part of the reserves in the squad and based in the US playing collegiate tennis. The 6'5" Madurai-born player, though, possessed a weapon not many can flaunt in Indian tennis currently - a big serve. An inspired pick by non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal, Dhakshineswar was brought out of the reserves and placed in the forefront of India's two significant Davis Cup wins in the last six months. "He's been a real star," Rajpal told HT. "This guy has plenty of potential. He's a gifted player with a lot of good things, and a good head on the shoulder." Against Switzerland in Biel last September, the team's secret weapon, then ranked 626th, upset 155th-ranked Jerome Kym to set the foundation for a rare away Davis Cup win in Europe that earned India entry into the Qualifiers Round 1. Against Netherlands in Bengaluru over the weekend, the team's trump card was at it again, in triple the capacity this time. Now ranked 465th, Dhakshineswar first stunned world No.88 Jesper De Jong on Saturday, and then on Sunday featured in the doubles win with Yuki Bhambri before returning to clinch the decisive reverse singles beating world No.162 Guy Den Ouden. The 3-2 win against the world No.6 team promoted India to the second round of Qualifiers for the first time, from which eight will progress to the elite Finals. Four matches, four wins. Davis Cup starts seldom get any better. But while the Swiss job was a one-match surprise factor, the Dutch challenge required more from the 25-year-old who isn't even a full-time professional yet. With Sumit Nagal coming off an injury and the doubles combination unsettled due to various reasons, Dhakshineswar was told to be physically prepared to turn up for three matches by Rajpal weeks ago. When the tie sat at 1-1 on Saturday, Rajpal fielded the big-server again to partner Bhambri. "I had told him this is going to be much more demanding. And he was ready for it," Rajpal said. "It's one thing playing in Switzerland, and another playing in Bangalore, where he had a lot of relatives watching too. That's where my job comes in to ease the pressure. And he's very cool and always in the present." Training in Chennai at the Aspire Tennis Academy, Dhakshineswar had the genes to be a 6-footer, even though he wasn't as tall in his teens. His height and potential was spotted by coach Rajeev Vijayakumar and mentor Somdev Devvarman, who asked him to work towards developing a facet of the game that would complement his build. Frequent injuries, the Covid-19 pandemic and shortage of finances meant his career wasn't moving forward. That's when Devvarman advised him to head to the US. Enrolled in the Wake Forest University, Dhakshineswar began playing and training a lot more while also pursuing communication studies.Playing tournaments week after week added the reps to his serve that was only growing in strength, and developed other parts of his game that continue to be a work-in-progress. He guided Wake Forest University to the NCAA Division I men's team championship in May last year. Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Dhakshineswar will complete his graduation in May. He hopes to compete a lot more on the pro tour after that. "I'm looking to raise some money for him," Rajpal said. "I'm going to talk to the sports ministry about him." Playing infrequently on the tour thus far, Dhakshineswar hasn't had the kind of success there yet. For India and its Davis Cup tale, though, his impact across the last two ties has been as enormous as his first serve. "It's a different feeling when you're playing for your country," Dhakshineswar told the media in Bengaluru. "You're not just playing for yourself, you're playing for the whole nation. I played some different tennis in these matches and I'm really proud of that."...