Serbia proves too strong on clay against India
It was a battle half won as India had to settle for winning one of the 12 sets as Serbia scored a 4-0 victory in the Davis Cup World Group play-off tennis event on indoor clay courts in Kraljevo.
A good start is half the battle won, and that was India had to show from the tie, as Ramkumar Ramanathan won the first set of the opening rubber against Laslo Djere on Friday.
It was a job half done by a weak team which was without two of its best players Yuki Bhambri and Divij Sharan.
India lost three of those 11 sets in the tie-break, and two of them were in the doubles in which Saketh Myneni partnered Rohan Bopanna. It was that close, as better play on those few crucial points could have made the tie a lot more lively.
Eventually, Sriram Balaji was compelled to check the quality of his singles game on clay after the tie had been lost on the second day. He managed to win four games against the fifth player of Serbia, Pedja Krstin.
The singles specialists Ramkumar and Prajnesh Gunneswaran thus could preserve themselves for the professional circuit, with both scheduled to play the $150,000 Challenger in Kaohsiung, Chinee Taipei.
Despite the defeat India may still find itself in the race for the trophy in the new format, featuring the 24 nations of the world in February to be played on a home and away basis.
The 12 winners from that event will then be joined by the four semifinalists of this season along with two wild cards, who would be determined based on the country figuring in the top-50 of Davis Cup rankings or a player being ranked in the top-10.
The 18 teams will compete on a league cum knock-out basis, starting with groups of three, and played over a week in November to identify the champion nation, in express speed !
The results:
World Group play-off: Serbia bt India 4-0 (Laslo Djere bt Ramkumar Ramanathan 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-2; Dusan Lajovic bt Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-4, 6-3, 6-4; Nikola Milojevic & Danilo Petrovic bt Rohan Bopanna & Saketh Myneni 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-6(4); Pedja Krstin bt Sriram Balaji 6-3, 6-1).
