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Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell stunned Indian pair of Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni 6-3, 7-6 (1), 6-3 in the third rubber of the Asia/Oceania Group I tie on Saturday. It was a great victory for the Kiwis as Bopanna was in fine form having reached the semifinals at Wimbledon earlier this month.
Each player held their serve in the opening game, before the hosts led 4-2 after breaking Bopanna’s serve in the sixth game. Daniell and Sitak weren’t troubled by the Indian duo as they wrapped up the first set.
India had a chance to go 3-1 up in the second set on Daniell’s serve, but both New Zealand players hit superb winners to make it 2-2. The second set went to a tie-breaker with no breaks of serve. New Zealand were the better team as they built up a 5-1 lead thanks to some strong serving and aggressive net play.
The Kiwis broke Myneni’s serve in the second game of the third set to go 2-0 up, before sealing the set and the match in straight sets.
India will now have to rely on Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri to win their reverse singles matches to win the match. New Zealand on the other hand haven’t been to the World Group playoffs since 1999, where they lost 5-0 to Spain.
