BELGRADE: Asian and Commonwealth Games champion Somdev Devvarman defeated Janko Tipsarevic to pull India back level at 1-1 with defending titleholders Serbia on the opening day of their Davis Cup World Group first round tie.
Viktor Troicki, who sealed his country's victory against France in December's 2010 final in Belgrade, put Serbia into the lead in Friday's first singles on the clay at Novi Sad.
He raced into a two set lead over Rohan Bopanna, who then clawed his way back into contention to set up a cliffhanger which the Serb eventually won 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3.
"It was a tough match. I came back after 2-0 and I am disappointed I couldn't manage to win," Bopanna told reporters.
Devvarman then levelled the tie with a 3-0 defeat of Tipsarevic, although the Serb player dug deep, leading 4-1 in each of the opening two sets with the Indian winning 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
"I feel for Janko because he probably didn't have enough time to adjust from Delray Beach, where it was a lot warmer and that much easier to serve," Devvarman said.
"I served well, kept fighting and always believed I could win the match," he added.
Serbia, missing their best player, world number three and Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, will be represented by their strongest pairing of Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's doubles where they come up against Bopanna and Devvarman.
India suffered a major blow to their chances after Grand Slam-winning doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were forced to withdraw due to injuries.
But Devvarman was confident his team still had a chance to defeat the Serbs.
"We definitely believe now we can win this tie and we will go out there to give it our best shot," he said.
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Viktor Troicki, who sealed his country's victory against France in December's 2010 final in Belgrade, put Serbia into the lead in Friday's first singles on the clay at Novi Sad.
He raced into a two set lead over Rohan Bopanna, who then clawed his way back into contention to set up a cliffhanger which the Serb eventually won 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3.
"It was a tough match. I came back after 2-0 and I am disappointed I couldn't manage to win," Bopanna told reporters.
Devvarman then levelled the tie with a 3-0 defeat of Tipsarevic, although the Serb player dug deep, leading 4-1 in each of the opening two sets with the Indian winning 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3).
"I feel for Janko because he probably didn't have enough time to adjust from Delray Beach, where it was a lot warmer and that much easier to serve," Devvarman said.
"I served well, kept fighting and always believed I could win the match," he added.
Serbia, missing their best player, world number three and Australian Open winner Novak Djokovic, will be represented by their strongest pairing of Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's doubles where they come up against Bopanna and Devvarman.
India suffered a major blow to their chances after Grand Slam-winning doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were forced to withdraw due to injuries.
But Devvarman was confident his team still had a chance to defeat the Serbs.
"We definitely believe now we can win this tie and we will go out there to give it our best shot," he said.
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