Somdev’s best not enough to stop Russia from taking lead

MOSCOW - Somdev Devvarman failed to get third time lucky against Russia’s Igor Kunitsyn, but not before India No. 1 put up a terrific fight in his four-set loss in the opening singles of the Davis Cup World Group first round at Luzhniki arena here Friday.

Somdev, who played a key role in India’s march to the World Group after 11 years, was a set and 5-3 up against Kunitsyn before losing 7-6(6), 6-7(4), 3-6, 4-6 in three hours and 35 minutes.

India’s No.2 Rohan Bopanna, who is at 416 on the ATP charts, will now take on World No. 13 Mikhail Youzhny in the second singles.

Kunitsyn stepped in at the last moment for an Igor Andreev, who pulled out with a left knee injury. Andreev himself came in for World. No.6 Nikolay Davydenko who was was out with a left-wrist injury.

Kunitsyn, who beat Somdev in both his previous two meetings on the ATP tour, was in danger of going two sets down when he was up against a second service break to go 0-4, but he survived. A couple of bad line calls did not help the Indian’s cause either and his game went to pieces as the Russian charged the net often to unsettle him.

The 107th-ranked Russian came out with power-packed groundstrokes on the hard court indoors. His stunning net play found no answer from the 128th-ranked Indian. Yet, the match could have gone to the fifth set if only Somdev had steadied himself a bit and tried to pass the Russian with his powerful groundstrokes.

Somdev was clearly the better player when the two fought from the baseline, but once Kuitsyn started coming to the net, the tide has turned. The Indian could win only 44 percent of his net points as compared to Kunitsyn’s 74 percent.

In the last two sets, the Russian’s game plan was simple, to force Somdev out of the court and come into volley with ease.

The Indian put up a gusty show in winning the first set tie-break after trading breaks in the sixth and seventh games. He then cruised to a 3-0 lead and had a break point in the fourth game which he squandered in the second set. Then the two traded breaks in the fifth and the sixth game and Somdev was serving for set at 5-3, but could not hold his nerve and that gave Kunitsyn fresh life.

With the set back on serve, the second tie-break of the match saw the Russian take control of the things from the start, leading 4-0, before prevailing without any hiccups.

A set all, Somdev looked clearly upset over the loss of the second set and was broken straightaway in the third set. The diehard Indian supporters in the crowd tried to revive him and he did,too, by breaking back.

Both the players served well in the set before Somdev’s backhand down the line at breakpoint in the eighth game was ruled out, leaving the Russian to serve out the set. An angry Somdev protested but to no avail and Russia was soon 2-1 sets ahead.

Now there was no stopping a confident Kunitsyn and his exemplary reflexes at the net stifled Somdev’s chances of a fightback. The Indian was a breakpoint up in the sixth game but Russian with sheer power saved it and held his serve.

Sensing it to be his last chance, Somdev once again attacked Kunitsyn serve in the eighth game that went to four deuces before the Russian held it again. Kunitsyn then upped the ante in the ninth game to force the Indian into errors to drop his serve and with it evaporated his chances of revival.

Kunitsyn then served out the set and match, Somdev managing to save only one match point after being down 0-40.