Rohan Bopanna pulled one back, as he beat Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the dead fifth rubber, after Mikhail Youzhny had sealed the tie 3-1 for Russia with a clinical 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Somdev Devvarman in the Davis Cup World group first round tennis encounter at the Small Sports Arena, Luzhniki, on Sunday.
The 30-year-old Bopanna's effort underlined the point that India could have made a better fight of it against the mighty Russians on their home soil, had Devvarman grabbed his chances in the opening rubber, after having dictated terms for the better part of the first two sets against Igor Kunitsyn in the first singles, a last minute replacement for Igor Andreev.
The 3-2 score was a fair indication of the relative strength of the two teams, especially in the absence of world No.6 Nikolay Davydenko from the Russian ranks.
Toying with Devvarman
Yet, it had to be conceded that the key to the tie lay with Russia as it had the services of the world No.13 Youzhny, who rarely put a foot wrong. He simply toyed with Devvarman, stroking with ease even as he teased and tormented the fleet-footed Indian with umpteen drop shots.
Youzhny was obviously in a different league, and was in tremendous touch, having reached the finals of the last two tournaments. He dictated the flow of the contest and Devvarman had no answers, though he showed his fighting qualities in two long-drawn games in the third set.
“I am happy to have won both my matches. I liked how I played,” said Youzhny, quite pleased to have given a nice birthday present for his captain Shamil Tarpischev.
When he is at his best, the 27-year-old Youzhny could be more than a handful for the best in the business. Former world No.1 Rafael Nadal had a taste of Youzhny's strike power at the Chennai Open final in 2008, when the Spaniard managed to eke out a token game in two sets.
Limitations exposed
To that end, it was no wonder that Devvarman's limitations were exposed by Youzhny. However, it was like a repeat of the match against Victor Hanescu in the World Group play-off in 2008 when Devvarman had managed to win a mere four games in three sets against the Romanian spearhead.
Of course, Devvarman has come a long way from that time and was the hero behind India's entry into the World Group after 12 years.
“It was very frustrating for me. I got completely outclassed. The bottom line is we tried our best,” said Devvarman, as he conceded that the better team had won.
Bopanna was celebrating his own 30th birthday three days late, as he played a fluent game to tame Gabashvili. Bopanna missed a setpoint in the 10th game of the first set, and one more in the tie-break, but closed the set out with a volley. In the second, he broke Gabashvili in the fifth game, and served out in style.
Rare touch
For someone, who had played only two singles matches this season, and who was not expected to trouble the opponents on the slow court, Bopanna showed that his fireworks could still work on ice, as he served and volleyed with a rare touch of assurance, and hit the groundstrokes with admirable fluency on both flanks.
India will fight to stay in the World group in the play-off in September, while Russia will wait for the winner of the match between Argentina and Sweden, for its quarterfinals.
