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Battle of nerves in the early going
It was an intense first few minutes after Dusan Lajovic and Yuki Bhambri took to court on a hot Saturday afternoon at the KSLTA stadium in Bangalore for the first match of the India vs Serbia Davis Cup playoff tie.
Both players held serve to start the match, but the Indian broke the Serb's serve in the third game to go up 2-1. However, Bhambri could not capitalise on the break as he nervously handed the next game to love.
The Delhi lad was broken again in the eighth game and the first set was on Lajovic’s racket. He had three set points at 40-0, but squandered all of them. It was the longest game of the set which lasted 12 minutes, but the Serb eventually managed to serve it out, saving a couple of break points in the process.
Bhambri loses steam in the second
Lajovic struck first in the second set as he broke in the third game. Armed with a set and a break lead, the Serb had the wind in his sails, and his strokes grew more confident.
Lajovic seemed in no mood of letting up as he sped to a 5-1 lead, breaking Bhambri’s serve once more.
The Indian then finally held his serve, forcing Lajovic to serve for a two set lead. The Serb did that convincingly, and had all the momentum heading into the third.
He was taking the attack to Bhambri, forcing him to defend, which ensured that he had the upper hand in almost all the rallies.
Tight third set, but no joy for the local fans
Both players started the third set with a higher level intensity and went for winners down the line as well as crosscourt. Lajovic dropped his guard just a bit in the fourth game as Bhambri converted his first break point opportunity since the first set to go up 3-1.
But things evened out in the seventh game as the Serb broke back, and the writing was on the wall for the Indian. Bhambri double faulted in the 11th game and committed three unforced errors to hand Lajovic the crucial game. The Serb then held his serve to seal the match and hand Serbia a 1-0 lead.
Final scoreline: Dusan Lajovic beat Yuki Bhambri 6-3, 6-2, 7-5.
