Kraljevo (Serbia): Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni lost the do-or-die doubles rubber against Serbia as India conceded an unassailable 0-3 lead to lose the Davis World Group Play-off tie here Saturday.
India needed a win to stay alive after losing both the singles Friday but Bopanna and Myneni, who replaced originally nominated N Sriram Balaji, could not keep the country afloat. They lost 6-7(5-7), 2-6, 6-7(4-7) to relatively inexperienced pair of Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic in a match that lasted 142 on the indoor courts at Kraljevo Sports Venue.
Bopanna and Myneni, who recently made a comeback to the competitive tennis from an injury, had a set point in the third set, serving at 5-3 but dropped serve. The Serbians did not give the Indians any more chances and sealed the tie in the hosts favour.
India have now lost three ties in a row to Serbia, who did not have their top players. India were expected to do a better job than this, since reigning US Open Champion Novak Djokovic opted out and Filip Krajinovic pulled out due to an injury.
However, since new Davis Cup reforms have been introduced India will not have to go back to Asia/Oceania Group immediately.
Instead, India will compete in a 24-team qualifying event (home and away format) in February, 2019 to qualify for the 18-team Davis Cup Finals, to be played either in Madrid or Lille from November 18-24, next year.