Somdev Devvarman came up with a brilliant match to raise India's hope of securing a spot in the Davis Cup elite World Group, defeating Jiri Vesely in the second singles match in New Delhi on Friday, after Yuki Bhambri lost the match against Lukas Rosol.
Somdev looked in top form in this second rubber, as he defeated Vesely in straight sets to help India close Day 1 at one match apiece against the Czech Republic. Somdev beat Vesely 7-6, 6-4, 6-3.
With this, the men's doubles pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes will hope to give India a 2-1 lead when they play the Czech pair of Adam Pavlasek and Radek Stepanek on Saturday. The reverse singles will be played on Sunday.
Earlier in the daym India had suffered a major setback with Bhambri losing the first singles match to Rosol in New Delhi. Bhambri, who was the hero of the last tie against New Zealand, lost in straight sets with the score reading 6-2, 6-1, 7-5.
The first two sets witnessed Rosol playing some quality tennis, while Bhambri was not able to match his standards. However, Bhambri came up with a better performance in the third set, which was still not enough to take a set off Rosol.
Rosol was in top form during the match, as he came up with a big service game. The Czech player hit as many as 11 aces in the match. Bhambri was not able to withstand the huge serves from Rosol, who fought the braving heat of Delhi to close out the match in straight sets.
Bhambri, who was dominated in all ends of the court, made a number of unforced errors as well, but it was all due to Rosol's powerful ground strokes, which made Bhambri's life difficult.
Rosol's 50 winners was proof the the Czech Republic player's dominance.
It was always going to be a huge task for Bhambri to defeat Rosol, who had previously defeated Rafael Nadal in the 2012 Wimbledon.
