New Delhi: Sweden’s No. 1 singles player Thomas Johansson said India had the players to cause an upset and the pressure was on the visitors in the Davis Cup World Group play-off this week.

“We don’t know much about their (India’s) singles guys. If they have a good day they could beat us. Of course we are the favourites, so the pressure is on us,” world 15th ranked Johansson said.

The 30-year old from Linkoping was coming into the tie with his confidence boosted by a semi-final appearance at the ATP Tour event in Beijing where he beat former world number one Carlos Moya.

India has proved lucky for Johansson as he played in the $400,000 Tata Open in Chennai in 2002 and went on to win the Australian Open Grand Slam the following week.

“I like to play in India, love your food and people are very friendly,” said Johansson.

The lanky player missed most of the 2004 season due to injury but his comeback has been brilliant.

Johansson did not forget to remind the media of his success on grass this season when he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, which should be more relevant since the upcoming tie from September 23 to 25 would be played on the lawns of R. K. Khanna Stadium.

But he acknowledged the Indian surface was a different proposition.

“The grass here is very different from the one at Queen’s or Wimbledon. But I have had good success on grass, I hope to keep my level here,” he said.

The weather conditions would also prove difficult, Johansson said.

“It is definitely tough because we are not used to these conditions. It is not just the heat but the humidity that makes the conditions here more difficult. See what happened to (Andreas) Vinciguerra,” he said.

Vinciguerra succumbed to the intense humidity during the morning practice sessions and was taken to hospital on Monday. He was expected to return from hospital this evening but was ruled out of training on Wednesday.

“It is scary,” captain Mats Wilander said of the weather. “When someone of your team is taken in an ambulance, it is scary. One more person down, and we would be down to three.”

“We have never played in this kind of heat and humidity. We see this only probably in the US, but there it is hard courts and on grass here it is less compared to there. But certainly the conditions here are tough,” he added.

Wilander said Vinciguerra was in good health but doubt over his availability would mean that Johansson will have the additional responsibility of doubles.

That should be good news for India since Johansson has a 0-3 win-loss record in doubles in Cup competition.

“My role here is different. Lot of players are injured, I will have to play the singles on Friday and Sunday. But we compete as a team, we don’t focus on individuals,” Johansson said.

“We take every Davis Cup match seriously, it doesn’t matter whom you play.”

Meanwhile, Doordarshan will telecast the Davis Cup matches live from September 23-25 at R. K. Khanna Stadium on DD sports channel, a Prasar Bharti release said here on Tuesday. (PTI)