<p>Somdev showed remarkable resilience in rallying from an identical down 1-4 in the first two sets and clinching the third set on a tie-break to overpower World No 45 Tipsarevic 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).<br /><br />Bopanna, who lost the first two sets, came back strongly in the next two with his booming serve, backed with power-packed hitting from backcourt, before going down 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6. Both Somdev and Bopanna produced, perhaps, their best Davis Cup tennis shows and raised their game to terrific heights to silence a partisan crowd at the indoor arena.<br /><br />A totally transformed Somdev was on the court. His defensive play was all too well known but not his vastly improved serve and an aggressive streak. He ran down everything and his aggression was palpable as he went for lines and corners from different angles to leave Tipsarevic shellshocked.<br /><br />He got out of difficult situations taking his opponent out of court with his angled serve, more potently when he banged them away to the deuce court and putting the winners away from Tipsarevic’s reach. <br /><br />He served ten aces to Serb’s three and hustled him by charging the net at crucial stages. Cumulatively, all these new weapons of Somdev left the Serb guessing. Obviously, the Indian did his homework, having played Tipsarevic twice on the Tour -- Los Angeles and Chennai.<br /><br />He had never taken a set off the Serb before. There were spells when both the players brought the roof down retrieving everything. Finding it difficult to engage Somdev in rallies, Tipsarevic tried to cut them short, but could not do it for long as the Indian made him run around. <br /><br />The two fought furiously and holding their serve became difficult. There were four breaks of serve in the first set and six in a row in the third till Somdev held his in the 10th. <br />Somdev was too steady for Tipsarevic in the tie-break despite the Serb gaining an early mini break to jump to 3-1. <br />Earlier, with a little luck and concentration in the fifth set, Bopanna could have put India up winning the first singles. Having fought back so gallantly for four sets, he ran out of steam in the deciding set. <br />Bopanna, who turned 31 on Friday, was down two sets but in a dramatic turn around made it two sets all against a player who is leading the challenge as the No 1 player in the absence of their top player Novak Djokovic.<br /></p>
<p>Somdev showed remarkable resilience in rallying from an identical down 1-4 in the first two sets and clinching the third set on a tie-break to overpower World No 45 Tipsarevic 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3).<br /><br />Bopanna, who lost the first two sets, came back strongly in the next two with his booming serve, backed with power-packed hitting from backcourt, before going down 3-6, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 3-6. Both Somdev and Bopanna produced, perhaps, their best Davis Cup tennis shows and raised their game to terrific heights to silence a partisan crowd at the indoor arena.<br /><br />A totally transformed Somdev was on the court. His defensive play was all too well known but not his vastly improved serve and an aggressive streak. He ran down everything and his aggression was palpable as he went for lines and corners from different angles to leave Tipsarevic shellshocked.<br /><br />He got out of difficult situations taking his opponent out of court with his angled serve, more potently when he banged them away to the deuce court and putting the winners away from Tipsarevic’s reach. <br /><br />He served ten aces to Serb’s three and hustled him by charging the net at crucial stages. Cumulatively, all these new weapons of Somdev left the Serb guessing. Obviously, the Indian did his homework, having played Tipsarevic twice on the Tour -- Los Angeles and Chennai.<br /><br />He had never taken a set off the Serb before. There were spells when both the players brought the roof down retrieving everything. Finding it difficult to engage Somdev in rallies, Tipsarevic tried to cut them short, but could not do it for long as the Indian made him run around. <br /><br />The two fought furiously and holding their serve became difficult. There were four breaks of serve in the first set and six in a row in the third till Somdev held his in the 10th. <br />Somdev was too steady for Tipsarevic in the tie-break despite the Serb gaining an early mini break to jump to 3-1. <br />Earlier, with a little luck and concentration in the fifth set, Bopanna could have put India up winning the first singles. Having fought back so gallantly for four sets, he ran out of steam in the deciding set. <br />Bopanna, who turned 31 on Friday, was down two sets but in a dramatic turn around made it two sets all against a player who is leading the challenge as the No 1 player in the absence of their top player Novak Djokovic.<br /></p>
