Injury grounds Mahesh Bhupathi as South Africa close gap in Davis Cup against India.

As India trailed in the third set of the doubles rubber, an injury to Mahesh Bhupathi helped the hosts claw back into the World Group play-off tie.

No one expected South Africa to have a chance against India in a doubles rubber in Davis Cup. After all, Indians have been unbeaten in doubles ties for over six years now. But the tide turned on Saturday, as an injury to Mahesh Bhupathi handed the rubber over to South Africa’s Wesley Moodie and Jeff Coetzee, and helped them pull back the deficit to 2-1.

On Day 2 of the World Group play-off tie in Johannesburg, India missed the injured Leander Paes, as the partnership of Bhupathi and Bopanna failed to take-off early in the first set. After taking a 5-3 lead, Moodie and Coetzee sealed it 6-3. Coetzee revealed after the match that their strategy was to pounce on Bopanna’s second serve.

“We just kept on going, kept on playing. And it was just a matter of time before we broke Bopanna’s serve. He was going to give us some second serves,” he said. However, his younger partner Moodie admitted, he was edgy initially. “I was a bit nervous, but nerves are good. If I wasn’t nervous I wouldn’t have played very well. It was a big task, coming from 2-0 down,” said Moodie.

Trailing by a set, the Indians cashed-in on two breakpoints on Coetzee’s serve in the eighth game. The South African captain double-faulted to gift India a 5-3 lead. Bopanna sealed the set 6-3 with his booming serves.

However, the cheer in the Indian camp did not last long. Bad news broke after South Africa raced off to a 4-0 lead in the third set. An injured Bhupathi called it a day, conceding the match to the hosts. A relieved South African captain was glad to lead the way.

“The way we came back in the third set was really good. We started saying let us get the same momentum we had in the SA take first. We concentrated especially on Bopanna’s serve early on. It paid off for us,” added Coetzee. His partner agreed, saying: “It’s good that we are on the board now. I like the match-ups tomorrow. We will see how it goes.”

Last time India lost a doubles rubber was when the same duo of Bhupathi and Bopanna fell to John van Lottum and Martin Verkerk of the Netherlands in the World Group qualifying Round 1 in September 2003.

The reverse singles will be played on Sunday, with Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna in action against Rik de Voest and Izak Van der Merwe, respectively.