Back to square one

But Istomin and Dustiv caused a major upset when they handed defeat to Paes and Bopanna,both of whom are ranked in the doubles top-10. While the first set was stretched to the tie-breaker with none of the teams ready to bow down to each other,the Uzbeks did well to snatch the second.

The Indians though bounced back in the third set to keep their chances alive. However,they completely ran out of steam in the fourth to surrender meekly.

On Friday youngsters Sanam Singh and Yuki Bhambri lost their singles matches in straight sets against Istomin and Dustov,respectively in what turned out to be lop-sided contests. Sundays reverse singles will be dead rubber.

Bhambri would take on Istomin in the fourth singles. The only time they had met before was in Miami 2010 and Istomin emerged victorious. Asian Games gold medallist Sanam will take on Dustov in the other match.

Top doubles player Mahesh Bhupathi opted out of Indias Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan to allow tour partner Bopanna pair with Paes. AITA All India Tennis Association had said that since Davis Cup captain S P Misra wanted two singles players,the selection committee was to choose two doubles specialists from among Paes,Bhupathi and Bopanna.

Spain on shaky ground

Spain squandered the chance to clinch a Davis Cup semi-final berth against France or the U.S. when Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez lost 3-6 6-4 6-4 7-6 to unfancied Austrian pair Alexander Peya and Oliver Marach on Saturday.

On the second day of the World Group quarter-finals,the U.S. secured a 2-1 lead over France in Monte Carlo and Czech Republic moved ahead by the same score against Serbia in Prague.

Spain8217;s rain-interrupted doubles rubber versus Austria on the clay at Marina d8217;Or was a world away from Friday8217;s one-sided singles,when Nicolas Almagro and David Ferrer thrashed Juergen Melzer and Andreas Haider-Maurer respectively.

France,runners-up to Serbia in 2010,could lose at home for the first time since April 2006 after Bob and Mike Bryan,the world number one doubles pair,put the U.S. ahead with a 6-4 6-4 7-6 win over Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra.

In Prague,there was none of the bad feeling that marred Friday8217;s five-hour clash between Radek Stepanek and Janko Tipsarevic as the former partnered Tomas Berdych to beat Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic 6-4 6-2 7-6.

After Tipsarevic8217;s win on Friday,Stepanek refused to shake his hand and the Serb had to be restrained by team mates before accusing his opponent of making an obscene finger gesture.

Australia progressed to the Davis Cup World Group playoffs for the third straight year when Marinko Matosevic and Chris Guccione recorded a 4-6,6-1,6-4,6-2 doubles win over Jeong Suk-young and Seol Jae-min of South Korea.