Christchurch, New Zealand: India suffered an early upset in their Davis Cup tie against New Zealand on Friday before Yuki Bhambri turned on the style to level the opening day 1-1.
Top-ranked Indian Somdev Devvarman did not cope well with the chilly conditions in Christchurch, blowing a two-set lead to lose the first rubber to Michael Venus 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.
With a spot in the World Group play-offs on the line, Bhambri then swept aside Aucklander Jose Statham 6-2,6-1, 6-3 to keep India’s hopes alive.
New Zealand have lost their last four Davis Cup fixtures against India, most recently a 5-0 drubbing in Chandigarh in 2012.
The Christchurch fixture seemed to be following the same script as Devvarman took an early lead against Venus, ranked exactly 400 places below him in singles at 548.
But Devvarman’s error rate rose as Venus played his way into the match, spurred on by an enthusiastic crowd, eventually claiming victory after three hours 48 minutes.
“I wasn’t doing anything wrong in the first couple of sets but he was playing very well and chasing everything down,” Venus said.
“I was able to up my game a bit more and really show some fight in the third set and from then I was able to stick to the game plan and keep going.”
He described the result as one of the best of his career.
New Zealand number one Statham had no answers against Bhambri, who showed superior movement and stroke play in a comprehensive victory.
With honours even, Saturday’s doubles rubber featuring New Zealanders Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak against the Indian pairing of Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni looms as a crunch match.
India have the world’s number 10 doubles player in Bopanna, fresh from reaching the doubles semi-final at Wimbledon.
But Sitak and Daniell are ranked 43rd and 66th in doubles respectively and are more than capable of springing an upset.
The reverse singles is scheduled for Sunday.
