Davis Cup second reverse singles washed out

Bangalore, Sep 14 :

The second reverse singles between Yuki Bhambri and Filip Kranjinovic in the Davis Cup World Group playoff tie will resume at 12 noon Monday following heavy rains that stopped play in the second set here Sunday.

At the time of suspension, Krajinovic led 6-3, 4-4. The organisers waited until 11.15 p.m. before calling off play. The teams are tied 2-2 in the rubber.

Earlier, in the first reverse singles, 29-year-old Somdev Devvarman picked himself up from the floor to pull off a memorable 1-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 over No.62 Dusan Lajovic in an epic three-hours, 40-minute epic encounter.

Krajinovic broke Bhambri twice to take the first set although the Serb himself dropped serve once, but the Indian, despite looking the sharper of the two, committed far too many unforced errors, 19 to be precise, that neutralized the 11 winners that he hit.

After a stoppage due to showers, the second set followed the trend as the duo traded two breaks apiece and with the scores tied 4-4, another spell of rains led to suspension of the match.

Devvarman, ranked 144, shrugged off a sluggish start to all but outplay Lajovic who could not sustain his early form that pointed to an easy for him before the Indian dug deep to snatch a dramatic win.

Devvarman’s win put India on level terms with Serbia, the 2010 champions and runners-up last year, at 2-2, a result that looked unlikely after the visitors had won both the singles Friday before Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna took the doubles tie Saturday to keep India afloat.

Under pressure to perform, Devvarman looked a pale shadow of his self in the first set that though suggested a tight battle, proved one-sided with the elegant Lajovic blasting winners and serving extremely well.

However, Lajovic, who has been having a good season as he climbed from 117 at the start of the year to 58 in July, could not sustain the momentum and despite enjoying many breakpoints in the second set, failed to finish.

Devvarman forced open the door to claim the tight second set after being let off on his serve that he struggled to hold. Thereafter, it was an up-and-down contest with the Serb taking the third and Devvarman fighting back to pocket the fourth as both players blew hot and cold.

The fourth set, for instance, witnessed as many as five consecutive service breaks, three of them by Devvarman who broke Lajovic twice to love to push the match into fifth.

Devvarman took the initiative in the fifth set with a break of serve in the third and again the seventh to close the match in style.

(IANS)