Yuki evens tie as Somdev loses

Yuki Bhambri rescued India with an impressive win after Somdev Devvarman’s shock defeat, leaving the visitors locked 1-1 with New Zealand on day one of the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I tie, on Friday.Michael Venus, ranked as low as 548 in the singles, turned the tables on Somdev, who lost the opening singles 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 1-6 after three hours and 43 minutes.

The fortunes changed dramatically for India as Somdev, who came into the tie after winning a Challenger title in USA, was firmly in control before losing his way.Egged on by the home crowd, Venus recovered amazingly after losing the first two sets and outsmarted 148th ranked Somdev to surprise the visiting camp.

The onus to bring India back was now on Yuki, who did not disappoint as he raced to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 win Jose Statham in the second singles.In the opening set, Yuki broke Statham, ranked 345th, in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead and consolidated his position with an easy hold in the next.The Indian youngster, ranked 151st, was on top of his game as he broke Statham for the second time in the seventh game and served out the set in the second.

An early break put Yuki in the driver’s seat. Statham held serve in third game but dropped again in the fifth to hand the 23-year-old a 4-1 cushion.Yuki had tightened his grip over the match and it was a matter of time before he served out the second too.Statham raised his game, putting a fight against Yuki as the first five games went on serve. However, Yuki yet again found a way to get a break and created a lead of 4-2.Yuki held his serve in the next and at 2-5, Statham was serving to stay in the set.

The Kiwi player managed to hold in the eighth but could not stop Yuki from serving out the match in the next.Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni will take on Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak in the doubles.

Couldn’t have played better: yuki

Bhambri says he could not have played better against Statham as he saved India the blushes. “Initially I was nervous but I tried to stay focused on my match and just gave it my best. It was a clinical performance. I could not have played any better,” Yuki said after his match.“Getting early breaks in the first set helped as I could play freely. And winning the first set was the key,” he added.

Not only the 23-year-old Delhi lad but his team also felt that Yuki was superb in his match. “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 play in such a tough situation after going down 1-0 in a Davis Cup match away from home,” said Somdev.

India coach Zeeshan Ali was also effusive in his praise for Yuki. “Yuki played flawless tennis. 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,” Zeeshan said.Speaking about his surprise defeat, Somdev said he did not play badly but his opponent was just too good. “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,” Somdev said.

Davis Cup scores (WG):

Great Britain 1-1 France; Australia 0-2 Kazakhstan; Argentina 1-0 Serbia; Belgium 2-0 Canada.