No reversals, Uzbekistan make it 4-1

NAMANGAN: Having dug in and clawed back from 2-5 down in the opening set to lead 6-5, Karan Rastogi dangled on the cusp of rushing the Indian Davis Cup challenge headlong into the realm of the fantastic. Denis Istomin was visibly tired and Karan overtly brimming with enthusiasm. However, the fantasy stayed elusive as Istomin stood firm on the bedrock of a massive first serve to shatter Karan’s defences as he carved out a 7-6 (2) 7-5 6-1 win to hand Uzbekistan a 3-1 lead.

The dead rubber came alive as Vivek Shokeen displayed his hunger once the pressure was off by registering a valiant fight while going down to Murad Inoyatov 3-6 6-4 7-6(3). His blistering form was surely the revelation of the day even though the score was a comprehensive 4-1 in favour of Uzbekistan. The overall verdict from captain Leander Paes minces no words: “These youngsters are the future of our Davis Cup. But as of now they play well when they are down and the pressure is less but manage to deflate when ahead. In singles we got whupped for we are gifting away matches from strong positions. These boys will learn but today was disappointing.”

So would he prefer senior players like Rohan Bopanna back in the squad? “No. I am open minded towards who ever is chosen by the selectors but Rohan has never won a live singles match for India and he is going to be 27. At this level, I can win doubles with anybody. What we need is to keep giving younger boys their chance and forget about the past,” Leander asserted.

In a clay court battle it is usual to see the one who’s stronger off the ground dominate. But in Sunday’s contest it was Istomin’s serve that proved to be the decisive pivot on which the match swung Uzbekistan’s way. He slammed in 13 aces and each time he was in trouble it was the monster serve that rose to devour Karan’s chances. Fittingly, the match point was converted off an ace too.

In contrast Karan had no ace to show but managed eight double faults. The Indian’s serve is still a work in progress with coach Sanjay Poddar trying to cast it different from the jerky action of before to a more momentum building flow. As of now, however, it is far from being a weapon and today it proved to be the decisive lacunae in Karan’s potency.  On both flanks it was Karan’s groundstrokes that had more consistency but the number of times they slammed into the tape were an excruciating too many.