India run out of steam,go down 4-1 to Serbia
Somdev Devvarman suffered a straight-set defeat against Viktor Troicki in the must-win fourth rubber.
An off-colour Somdev Devvarman suffered a straight-set defeat against Viktor Troicki in the must-win fourth rubber as Indias journey in the elite Davis Cup World Group ended with a 1-4 defeat against top seeds and defending champions Serbia,on Sunday.
Under pressure to level the tie,Somdev lost the first reverse singles 4-6,2-6,5-7 to world number 18 Troicki in two hours and 44 minutes,which gave Serbia an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the first round clash at Spens Sports Centre. Karan Rastogi was later drubbed 0-6,1-6 by world number 45 Janko Tipsarevic in the dead fifth rubber.
Rastogi was no match to Tipsarevic and got on the board only when the Serb was serving for the match in the sixth game of the second set but dropped his serve. India will now compete in the play-offs to remain the elite 16-nation World Group while Serbia have booked a place in the quarter-finals.
After losing the crucial doubles tie on Saturday Rohan Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman teaming up in the absence of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi it all depended on Somdev to keep India alive in the tie but Troicki punctured the visitors hopes with a clinical show before the noisy home crowd.
If Troicki was confidence personified,Somdev was not even a shadow of his usual fighting self,though he fought hard in the third set. As if loss of form was not enough,poor umpiring added to the frustration of Somdev as yet again scenes of arguments with the chair umpire were witnessed.
In the sixth game of the third set,Somdev refused to continue the match over a doubtful call and the match referee had to intervene and convince the incensed Indian to resume. Troicki hit a shot near the baseline at 40-30 which looked going out but umpire ruled the point and thus game in favour of the Serb.
Somdev first argued and then refused to continue but the match referee eventually succeeded in continuing the game. In an intense baseline slugfest,it was all about making less errors and encashing on the mistakes of the rival and Trociki did exactly that,showing why he is a top-20 player.
After breaking Somdev in the ninth game,for the second time in the first set,an ace gave Trociki his first set point and he made no mistake in converting that. Somdev tried too hard to claw his way back but the story of free flowing unforced errors did not change,severely hurting his chances and confidence.
Somdev saved a break in the third game with good serve but soon hit a forehand to net to face another one and dropped serve by hitting another forehand long. Troicki consolidated the lead with a hold of serve in the next and raced to a 5-1 lead by breaking Somdev at love in the sixth game. Somdev threw his racquet in frustration as the match was fast slipping out of his hands.
Contentious line calls irk players,fans alike
Contentious line-calls marked Indias entire tie against Serbia,with both Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna visibly unhappy with the level of umpiring. Bopanna had brought the inefficiency to the chair umpires notice after a few contentious calls against Viktor Troicki in the first rubber but to no avail.
Day Two saw several contentious calls going against the Indians. Bopanna Tweeted after the match: My tenth year in Davis cup and have not come across such blatantly poor line calls.
On Sunday,India captain SP Misra and Somdev were involved in an argument with the referee and the chair umpire,but the decision remained against India. Mahesh Bhupathi Tweeted: Wonder where they got these linesmen in Serbia. Did u guys pick them out of the crowd?? How bad can the line calls be….
Irked fans wrote: tribute to our guys that they have to cheat like this to overcome us,Serbia unworthy defending champs,really awful, and have u ever seen poorer line calls before!! incredible how shamelessly patriotic the line judges were.
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