Johannesburg: Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman put in sight of the Davis Cup World Group Finals winning the two opening singles in the play-off tie against South Africa at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park Indoor Arena on Friday.
Bopanna, who had failed to win even a single match during India's 3-2 win against Chinese Taipei in the second round in February, pulled off a sensational win against South Africa No. 1 Rik de Voest 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in little more than two hours to follow-up India's No. 1 Somdev Devvarmam's clinical 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-4 win over Izak Van der Merwe.
Bopanna will partner Mahesh Bhupathi in absence of injured Leander Paes for the doubles tie against Wesely Moodie and Jeff Coetzee to give India a World Group Finals berth in 11 years.
Ranked at lowly 488, Bopanna, who is on a comeback trail after a knee surgery in June, was literally blown away in the first set, winning just two games after being down 0-5 in mere 13 minutes. But the fighter in Bopanna woke up in the second set. The Indian in a complete turned around produced breathtaking groundstrokes and served with purpose, acing as many as 17 times, to seal a 2-0 win.
Once the 29 year-old-Bangalorean overcame nerves to hold the first game of the second set, he began to hit fluently, whipping some stupendous backands and forehands to send De Voest scurrying to the corners.
He broke the South African in the fifth game and soon served out the set in the tenth to make it 1-1. He carried in the same vein in the third set, snapping De Voest's serve in the fifth and the seventh game to be up 2-1.
In the fourth set, a fired up Bopanna broke De Voest early in the third game and was cruising to serve out the set and the match when the South African pulled one back in the eight game to make it 4-4. But that was it. Bopanna broke back immediately and with a hold stunned the sparse crowd.
A relieved Bopanna said Somdev took pressure off him by winning the first singles.
"I was relaxed going into the match since Somdev won the first singles match. It eased the pressure on me. I am glad I was able to win it for India," Bopanna said.
"The high altitude conditions suited my game. I practiced at Bangalore for a week before coming here and I was comfortable playing here.
"In the first set I tried everything but De Voest was too good. After being 0-4 down in the first set, I decided to start afresh from the second set. I grew in confidence after I held the first game of the second set and after that I started playing well," he said.
Contrastingly, it was a fairly easy win for Somdev. The 133rd-ranked Indian was favoured to win the match, having earlier beaten the 290th-ranked van der Merwe in straight sets at the Aptos challenger quarters in July. The Indian took two hours and 13 minutes to close out the match.
Somdev was given a stiff fight in the first set by Van der Merwe, whose impeccable volleying neutralised the powerful backcourt play of the Indian.
But the Indian shifted gears in the next two sets, complementing his groundstrokes with some strategic net play. As the South African lapsed into errors, Somdev came up with spectacular backhand hitting to make the set one-sided.
However, that was not the case in the first set. The two players served big and barring facing break points in two successive games, Somdev in the eighth and van der Merwe in the ninth, neither had difficulty holding.
The set entered a tie-break where Somdev cruised to a 5-2 lead and when van der Merwe double faulted at 6-5, India was 1-0 up.
Somdev was in control in the second set, stroking freely and passing the South African easily. He broke the South African in the sixth game with a backhand pass after fighting off four deuces. The Indian then held his serve at love to consolidate a 5-2 lead before serving out the set.
In the decider, the South African ran out of fizz and struggled to hold serve in the first game itself as he had to save two break points. After that the Indian had to only hold his serve which he did without any alarms.
Somdev said he was happy to give India a winning start.
"It's all about preparation and giving your best shot in the match. I am happy to make a winning start for India," said Somdev.
"Van der Merwe can be a dangerous player if you give him confidence. It was huge for me to get on top of the tie-breaker and then keep up the pressure."
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