The experience of Leander Paes and the explosive game of Rohan Bopanna combined to a nicety as the Indian pair rose from the dead to keep the hosts’ hopes alive in their World Group play-off against Serbia.
Having lost both their singles matches on Friday’s opening day, India needed to win their doubles encounter to stay alive in the tie. The recalled Paes and Bopanna didn’t disappoint the near capacity crowd with come-from-behind 1-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3, 8-6 win over the battling Serbian pair of Nenad Zimonjic/Ilija Bozoljac here at the KSLTA Stadium on Saturday.
The exhilarating win notwithstanding, Serbia still lead the tie 2-1 and India will require both Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri to win their reverse singles matches on Sunday to qualify for the elite 16-nation World Group.
The crowd had begun to gather hours before the much-hyped match and by the time the players were called on to the courts, few seats had been left unoccupied. And those, who didn’t get vantage points to view, didn’t mind settling down on aisles.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah too joined in the gathering whose decibel levels threatened to bring the roofs down. But the Indian pair was utterly out of place in the first set, struggling with their volleys and serves. Between them Bopanna and Paes had as many as four double faults in a set that lasted all of 18 minutes.
After holding the first game rather comfortably, the Indians’ game fell apart without as much of a sign. Paes was broken in the third game while Bopanna lost the fourth to hand a 4-1 lead. Zimonjic held the sixth before the Serbians broke Paes again to clinch the set with effortless ease.
The drubbing appeared to have shaken the home pair out of its slumber. There was better coordination and fewer unforced errors even as their opponents struggled with their serves and returns. In fact, the Indians built an early 2-1 lead when Zimonjic served a double fault at 0-40. Paes sealed the next game with an ace to increase the lead to 3-1. India had a chance to break Bozoljac immediately at 30-40 but the Serbian sent down three aces to save the game. The visitors then broke Paes’ serve in the eighth game to level the scores and clinched the keenly-contested tie-break to take 2-0 lead.
Against the run of play, the Indians turned the game on its head, exhibiting more purpose and energy. Bopanna found his service range while Paes was at his vintage best at the net. The Serbians had shown signs of cracking in the second set and the Indians pushed them to the wall, producing regular winners and eliciting errors in equal measure. As the points accumulated in India’s favour the atmosphere turned electric and crowd was sent into a tizzy when charged up Paes and Bopanna chest-butted after winning a point to go up 5-4 in the fourth set.
The Serbians were well on their course to wrap up the match in straight sets when they broke Paes in the fifth game of the third set to take a 3-2 lead. At this point, Zimonjic took a medical time out for a suspected back problem and on return was broken straightaway as the Indians reeled off four games in a row to halve the deficit. Egged on by a vociferous crowd, Paes and Bopanna put up an even improved show and targeted Zimonvic who was clearly struggling with his serves. He was broken in the first and then in the ninth when the 38-year-old committed two back-to-back double faults while serving at deuce and down 3-5 in the set.
The decider was contested more evenly and the Serbians stretched every sinew to stop the Indian juggernaut but their engine eventually ran out of its steam in the 14th game when Bozoljac failed to keep his return in at 15-40 and 6-7 on Zimonvic serve.
Result: Serbia: 2 India: 1 (L Paes/R Bopanna bt N Zimonjic/Ilija Bozoljac 1-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-3, 8-6.
