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Johannesburg - South Africa's hopes of qualifying for the elite World Group of the Davis Cup took a nosedive at a stunned Ellis Park Indoor Arena on Friday afternoon as the rampant Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna placed an ominous Indian sign on South Africa by forging a 2-0 lead after the opening day's singles.
The up-and-coming 24 year-old Devvarman, the highest-ranked singles player in the tie at 133rd in the world, started the ball rolling for India with a comprehensive 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-4 win over Izak van der Merwe and Bopanna made a devastating recovery from 0-5 down in the first set to beat a faltering Rik de Voest 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 after being out of tennis with a knee ligament injury for three months.
It was a comeback of awesome proportions for the big-serving Bopanna in view of the fact that he was playing in no more than a Challenger event in his last tournament and bowed out in the opening round.
South Africa need to win Saturday's doubles and Sunday's reverse singles to salvage what now appears a shattered dream of returning to the elite segment of the Davis Cup after an 11-year absence.
But, for all the disappointment of the occasion for the South African side and a vocal but disappointingly sparse crowd of 1 200, team captain John-Laffnie de Jager afterwards echoed the sentiment of legendary American baseball player Yogi Berra that "it ain't over until it is over".
Despite the admirable optimism, however, it seems a forlorn hope -particularly in view of the impressive form of both Devvarman and Bopanna, who exceeded in their different ways the expectations of most of those present.
Yet ironically, it was the angular Van der Merwe who gained the first break point of the tie when he led Devvarman 4-3, 40-30 in the opening set of a game that lasted two hours and 13 minutes.
But the South African's chipped approach shot at that point sailed over the baseline and what had been a reasonably well-matched encounter up to then turned irrevocably in favour of the more agile and consistent Devvarman - with Van der Merwe brilliantly saving one set point in the tiebreaker only to surrender the opening set with a double-fault.
The high altitude and fast-medium court surface had been mooted as factors that could swing the tie in favour of South Africa. Instead it was Devvarman who performed as though he was playing at home while controlling the match with his near-flawless top-spin forehand and dazzling passing shots.
He had beaten Van der Merwe comprehensively 6-2, 6-4 on a slow, sea-level court previously and the South African said he felt his serve-and-volley game would have produced a better result this time. But the maxim that "you are as strong as your weakest link" prevailed and Van der Merwe was no match for his articulate Indian opponent in baseline rallies -particularly when the point went more than three or four strokes.
De Voest said afterwards he had played one of the best sets of his life against Bopanna as he raced into a 5-0 lead - but the Indian began to piece his game together towards the end of the first set, getting back into contention with what is one of the most ferocious serves on the international tennis circuit.
And after an avalanche of booming serves and forehand drives had turned the match on its head, Bopanna even proceeded to produce a succession of backhand winners from an area that De Voest had believed would be a weak link in the Indian's make-up.
Bopanna served 19 aces in all in a game that lasted an hour and 56 minutes and seemed to have the match wrapped up after securing an early break in the fourth set.
He then lost his composure briefly after becoming upset by a line call against him that was reversed by the umpire - dropping his serve to love to make the score 4-4.
But with the spectators roaring De Voest on to greater effort, he immediately dropped serve again and Bopanna completed India's day of joy by serving two more aces in the last game.
And Bopanna ominously declared he was now totally motivated for Saturday's doubles, in which he will replace the injured Leander Paes as Mahesh Buphati's partner against South Africa's Wesley Moodie and Jeff Coetzee.
Results from the first day of a Davis Cup World Group play-off between South Africa and India on Friday:
Singles:
Somdev Devvarman (IND) bt Izak van der Merwe (RSA) 7-6 (7/5), 6-3, 6-4
Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt Rik de Voest (RSA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4
Saturday:
Doubles
Jeff Coetzee/Wesley Moodie (RSA) v Mahesh Bhupathi/Bopanna
Sunday:
Singles
De Voest v Devvarman
Van der Merwe v Bopanna
