Rohan Bopanna wears off South Africa No.1 Rik de Voest to give India a commanding 2-0 lead in the World Group play-off tie.
It took 18 minutes for Bopanna to get off the mark. That and the first-set loss remained the only two down points of the second singles rubber against South Africa on Friday. On an afternoon that rained aces, Bopanna bounced back in style after an off-target Set 1 which went 6-2 to De Voest, ranked No.189 in the world. India’s big server, who fired 18 aces to the South African’s 13, found his serving rhythm in time to wrap up the second set 6-4 in 30 minutes.
With his streaming backhand in place, Bopanna won four games in a row to pocket the third 6-2, and an early break helped him go 2-1 up in the fourth set. But De Voest broke back in the eighth game to make it 4-4, before the Indian, ranked No.488, charged back to make it Game, Set, Match for India in less than 2 hours.
Bopanna said after the match: “Once I held a tight first game in the second set, I got the momentum going. I started serving better and playing better. That helped so much. After Somdev gave us a 1-0 lead in the tie, it helped me to go and play the second match.
“Except for the game at 4-3 (in the third set), when I got rattled by a bad call, which I shouldn’t have. Luckily for me Rik gave the break back and I managed to close it out.”
India are looking for their first victory against South Africa in three ties, as well as a place in the World Group.
Earlier, a single word described Somdev’s game in the opening singles match against South Africa - Fearless.
The India No.1 served up a solid game to give India a 1-0 lead. It was a battle between a big server, Izak van der Merwe and one of the best passers in the tie - Somdev.
The South African served unbelievably and ruled at the net, but Somdev controlled the lines with signature down-the-line passing shots. With no breaks of serve, the first set went to the wire. Van der Merwe serve failed him, when it mattered the most, at 5-6 in the tie-breaker. A double fault handed the Indian the first serve in 51 minutes.
Somdev admitted after the match that the tie-breaker was crucial. “Coming through the tight first set in the tie-breaker was huge,” he said.
Somdev added, “Especially, when you are playing a guy like Izak, he’s so dangerous.
“If he gets some confidence he can go on a roll and play some good tennis. So, it was huge for me to come on top of the breaker and after that I kept the pressure on,” the India No. 1 said.
Carrying on the momentum, the world No.133 pocketed the second set 6-3 on his serve in just 37 minutes. The opening match finally slipped out from South Africa’s hands when Somdev broke early in the fifth game of the third set to lead 3-2.
Ranked 290 in the world, Van der Merwe admitted his inability to break Somdev’s serve cost him the match, “I dint break his serve, I think that’ why I lost the match,” he said.
It was Advantage India after 2 hours and 13 minutes when Somdev took the final set 6-4 on his first match point. The early preparations have paid off well for Somdev.
“It’s all about preparation and giving yourself the best shot out there. I am really happy I played the way I did to give the first win for India,” Somdev said.
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