Christchurch : Yuki Bhambri helped the Indian tennis team to even the honours after compatriot Somdev Devvarman lost the opening rubber on the first day of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I second round clash against New Zealand on Friday.
The 148th ranked Devvarman had a solid start in the first singles match against 44th ranked Michael Venus. However, the 30-year-old Indian ran out of steam as he went on to lose the next three sets 3-6, 3-6, 1-6 to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
But Bhambri, ranked 151st, appeared in top form to beat Jose Statham, ranked 345, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 on the indoor hard courts of the Wilding Park Tennis Centre to level the contest 1-1.Saturday will see the lone doubles match between Indian combine Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni and hosts Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak before the crucial reverse singles are played on Sunday.
The winning nation will progress to the World Group Play-offs. When it comes to head-to-head, India leads 4-3, having won the last four contests between the two countries — the last one being in 2012 when India whitewashed the Kiwis in Chandigarh.
Later, Bhambri said he could not have played better against Jose Statham. “Initially I was nervous but I tried to stay focussed on my match and just gave it my best. It was a clinical performance. I could not have played any better,” Yuki said. “Getting early breaks in the first set helped as I could play freely. And winning the first set was the key,” he added.
“The good thing about today is that Yuki played a fantastic match and put us on the board, really took to his opponent. Some of the best tennis I have seen Yuki playing in such a tough situation after going down 1-0 in a Davis Cup match away from home,” said Somdev about his teammate.
India coach Zeeshan Ali was also effusive in his praise for Yuki. “Yuki played flawless tennis. One of the best tennis I’ve seen him play. He’s been timing the ball beautifully the whole week and today was exceptional tennis from him. He didn’t give his opponent any chance to settle for the first 2 and a half sets,” Zeeshan said.
“It was a tough day for me in the office. I started off really well, serving really well in the first two sets, I only faced one break point in the first two sets and after that the guy certainly played very good to be honest.
“There is whole lot of things that went wrong, I started talking to my teammates and captain about what happened out there. All in all, the guy really played well. There is nothing wrong in my game but he outplayed in the last few sets.”—AGENCIes
