Tennis news: Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna lose, India down 0-2 versus Brazil
India's hopes to earn a promotion to the Davis Cup World Group dashed into the ground, as the hosts conceded a 0-2 lead to Brazil, following the breakdown of Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman in their action-packed singles clashes on the first day of the
play-off tie in Chennai.
Both the clashes lasted over a time period of four hours, as Rohan and Somdev from India battled nail and tooth until the end in a superb exhibit of hunger and stamina for victory on Friday.
Rohan squandered a total of three match points in the decisive set to lose the opening singles match at the hands of world number 27, Thomaz Bellucci. The final match score was 7-6 (2), 6-7 (7), 5-7, 6-4, 8-10.
Gritty Devvarman put up a noble battle, however, could not equal the tie for his country as he was surpassed by Ricardo Mello in a total of five sets. The final match score was 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(3), 2-6, 4-6. Mello is ranked thirty eight places above Somdev
at 75.
India, as a result of these defeats will have to triumph in all the three remaining matches to regain a spot in the elite World Group.
Rohan was all charged up, as the Indian came into the tie after a tremendous run at the United States Open tennis tournament, where he made his way into the final of the doubles competition along with his Pakistani partner, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, however
couldn’t record his greatest victory in the Davis Cup by falling down in an epic match, which was stretched for as long as four and a half hours on Friday.
Thomaz, who is ranked 452 places ahead of Bopanna, was given a tough time by the Indian at many crucial stages of the match however; the U.S Open doubles runner-up couldn’t handle the pressure on important junctures, and in the end had to pay the price for
it.
Somdev, on the other hand, missed his serve on two occasions in the final set, which proved to be the turning point of the match in the end and snuffed out his country’s hope.
The responsibility to bring their team back in the tie now lies on Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, who will meet Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in the doubles clash on Saturday.
Bhupathi and Leander have not lost a doubles match in the past twenty three ties, however, the Melo-Soares duo cannot be underestimated, as they have shown their talent by knocking down world number one doubles team of Bryan brothers this season.
Rohan and Somdev will also have to triumph in reverse singles on Sunday.
The hosts came to the tie after falling down in the World Group opening round tie to Russia. The Brazilian team is attempting to enter the elite group for the last seven years, however, has been unsuccessful in its past few trials.
"The lack of playing singles clashes made the difference in my today’s match. There were off course a couple of good opportunities for me but sadly I didn’t grab any of them. Actually the thing is that I have played just a few singles contests over the
last few months, and that actually helped Thomaz to dominate right from the start. I gave him a tough time as much as I could, however, he came up with some big points at important moments of the match,” said Rohan after his defeat.
Despite starting off quite confidently, with the help of his destructive serves and huge strokes, the Indian tennis ace, Rohan Bopanna couldn’t continue his game for long, and was placed on the back foot by Thomaz in Chennai.
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