An uphill task for India in Davis Cup: Somdev Devvarman

Bangalore, Sep 12 (IANS) A despondent Somdev Devvarman, after his four-set loss to Filip Krajinovic which put Serbia 2-0 ahead after the first day in the Davis Cup World Group play-off here Friday, felt that India faced an uphill task to get back into the tie.

"It is going to be extremely tough, especially after being down 0-2 against a very strong nation. There is no question about that. The doubles (to be played Saturday) may be 50:50, but we have two really good players in (Leander) Paes and (Rohan) Bopanna and we really have a chance.

"Hopefully, the boys come out really fired up tomorrow and play some good tennis and get us on board. Then I will have another chance in the reverse singles and maybe I would learn from the mistakes I made today. Hope crowds will come tomorrow to see Leander Paes play," said Somdev in the post-match media conference.

On his game against Krajinovic, the 30-year old Somdev said his serve let him down and that he could have played much better than he did.

"Bad serving did for me and made the life rougher for me. We have played well before in the altitude. Sometimes it works and other it doesn't.

"I was not surprised by his (Krajinovic's) game. He is a very good player. He was the favourite to win the match. I was pretty disappointed with my play, feel like I am a better player than I should have been today.

"I fought back pretty well and won the second set and was happy with that. Filip is an aggressive player and he kept playing his shots on both flanks. I was surprised with his level of play. I was happy I could play at higher level against him, but unfortunately it did not work today," he said.