Doubles tennis is all about teamwork. Which, essentially means that even if you are just coming off a Grand Slam title, your team is as good as the sum of its constituents.

India learnt that lesson the hard way on Saturday, the second day of their Davis Cup World Group qualifying tie against Adam Pavlasek and Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic. The combination of Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna looked formidable on paper, what with Bopanna the current highest-ranked India doubles player joining forces with Paes, just coming off a title win at the US Open.

Bopanna-Paes fail

Unfortunately, the lack of match practice cost India dear. Bopanna and Paes had not played together for almost a year and Paes only returned to India on September 16. Without any significant practice sessions, Bopanna and Paes folded to the Czech duo in straight sets, 5-7, 2-6, 2-6. Bopanna’s performance particularly was far below his usual standard – he looked rusty and made quite a few unforced errors handing the advantage to the Czechs. For the Czech duo, seasoned veteran Stepanek put in a tidy performance but it was Adam Pavlasek, ranked 146 in the world and the most inexperienced of the Czech team, who was a revelation, surprising the Indians with his netplay and returns.

Paes and Bopanna’s defeat gave the Czech Republic a valuable 2-1 lead at the end of the second day. The first day though was a day of contrasting fortunes for India – many did not give Somdev Devvarman much of a chance against world number 40 Jiri Vesely with the hope being that Yuki Bhambri, India’s highest-ranked singles player would make a fist of it in his clash against Lukas Rosol. However, Rosol dominated the first two sets not even giving Bhambri a whiff of chance, powering his way to 6-2, 6-1. The Delhi heat did get to him in the third set but by then he just had enough to get over the finishing line, winning the third set 7-5 to give Czech Republic a 1-0 lead.

Devvarman surprises

Devvarman though had other ideas. Against an opponent ranked almost a hundred places above him, Devvarman displayed steel on a swelteringly hot Delhi afternoon. The first set was a battle of attrition with innumerable deuces and match points, finally ending in a tie-break where Devvarman squeezed out a 7-6 victory. By then, the heat and humidity had got to Vesley, who started making too many errors. To his credit, Devvarman kept his nerve, hitting one ace after another and ensured that he did not wilt. Tied at 4-4 in the second set, Devvarman gamely fought on saving five consecutive deuce points, before Vesley finally gave up. Devvarman would go on to win the rubber 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, a result scarcely believable.

Though Devvarman’s victory had provided optimism, Paes and Bopanna’s defeat on the second day eroded much of the hope. At 2-1 down on the beginning of the third day, it was going to be an uphill task for India to win – they would need to win both of their reverse singles. Bhambri might have been cheered by the sight of Vesley instead of Rosol, but this time, the world number 40 was in the mood to make up for his loss. He cantered to win the first set, before Bhambri finally got his groove back and gave him a much tougher time in the second set. Bhambri found himself 4-3 up in the first stage and had enough opportunity to make it 5-3, but failed to ram home the advantage allowing Vesley to come back and take the set 7-5. The third set was a mere formality after that – Vesley quickly finished proceedings with a resounding 6-2 victory, handing the tie to the Czechs with an unassailable 3-1 lead. Both the teams decided not to play the last dead rubber between Devvarman and Rosol due to bad weather.

If one had to take a turning point from the three days, it was probably the Paes-Bopanna defeat which few expected. Devvarman’s upset in the first hope had greatly raised Indian hopes and had Paes-Bopanna won (as they were expected to), the Czech contingent might have buckled under the pressure. However that was not to be and they ensured that they booked their place among the top 16 tennis nations in the World Group.