Somdev beat Vesely, India , Czech settle for 1-1

Tennis ace Somdev Devvarman helped India level the Davis Cup World Group Playoff tie against Czech Republic at 1-1 after beating Jiri Vesely in the second singles rubber here today. He won 79 per cent of his first serve points, which was one of the key factors in today’s successful effort by Somdev.

The Delhi boy’s 3-6, 5-7, 2-6 defeat in sweltering heat in the must-win fourth rubber means that India will remain in the Asia|Oceania Group 1 for next year’s competition while the top seeds and three-time Champions Czech Republic regained their place in the elite-16 nation World Group.

After the pair of Bopanna and Leander Paes lost the match against Radek Stepanek and Adam Pavlasek, the Bengaluru player took to micro-blogging site Twitter on Saturday to show his disappointment.

Already ahead 2-1 after winning the doubles clash on Saturday, World No.40 Vesely needed just two hours and 12 minutes to clinch the match after which both teams mutually decided to not play the inconsequential fifth rubber – scheduled between Somdev Devvarman and Lukas Rosol.

Rosol, who was ranked as high as 26 previous year but has since slipped to 85, doused Bhambri’s spirited resistance in the third set to seal an emphatic win.

The slow court worked to Somdev’s advantage as left-handed Vesley struggled to cope with it, unable to hit flat and hard as Rosol managed against Yuki.

Somdev had beaten the Czech star 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Friday to give India a glimmer of hope in the tie. “I am very happy with the way I played”. However, he was gracious in conceding that Devvarman had played well, particularly with strong defence and moving him around the court.

“I was mentally fit but not physically”. “So it is disappointing for me”. Anyway, what has happened is history now. Not being able to convert three chances in the eighth game proved suicidal as one break could have turned the tide under challenging conditions.

“There is a core team of people who travel regularly with the Davis Cup team but here a larger contingent has come as they wanted to explore some parts of India as well, apart from watching the matches”, said Hovorka. “So hopefully I can continue doing well here as well”, said Bhambri. I have to do a lot of work in two days to get ready for Sunday. They have enough arsenal in their repertoire and all their four players are very good in singles.

For sure, Rosol was a class act, with his thundering returns and quick feet.