Ten days after Rohan Bopanna played an unexpected starring role in India’s promotion to the Davis Cup World Group, he found himself in a situation remarkably similar to his match in Johannesburg against South African No 1 Rik de Voest. Bopanna was scheduled to take on world No 51 Jose Acasuso in the first round of the Proton Malaysian Open on Tuesday, a match-up that again pitted him as the definite underdog against the former top-20 player. And just like that day in South Africa, the 29-year-old, who recently returned to singles play after a knee injury, beat the odds and his Argentine opponent, rallying from a set down to win 4-6 6-3 6-4.

Before he took the flight to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian Open didn’t even figure in Bopanna’s itinerary, but after Tuesday’s performance, this victory will surely be remembered amongst his finest. “I was earlier going to stay home as I had some visas to figure out for upcoming tour events. But Aisam (Qureshi) and I got a doubles wild card for Malaysia, and I decided to play in the singles qualifiers as well,” Rohan told The Indian Express from Kuala Lumpur. Coming through the qualifying rounds helped him gain some momentum, and even when he fell behind against the big-game experience of Acasuso, the Indian stayed focused and went on to win the match.

The Davis Cup tie in South Africa, he said, did add to his confidence. “I’m playing well and feeling good about my game now. Playing in the qualifiers in Malaysia gave me time to get used to the conditions here and that helped me against a quality player like Acasuso. Last week in Johannesburg was also very good for me, but of course you can’t compare playing in a tour event to playing for your country,” he said.

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