While India are admittedly on the “front foot” in the tournament, going in to Saturday’s doubles tie as favourites against Uzbekistan, it remains to be decided which duo the seemingly spoilt-for-choice non-playing captain Leander Paes favours more. But it’s really doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi who will take the final call as to who he chooses to partner.

Bopanna has had a feel of the grass, and is more than willing to play three matches in three days, and has Paes’s nod. Prakash Amritraj is still recuperating from a so-called ‘stomach-bug’.

On a day that saw the start of matches delayed due to threatening weather conditions, Paes was brightened by the performance of both Rohan ‘Bofors’ Bopanna and Somdev. While Bopanna tamed Uzbek No 2 Farrukh Dustov 6-3, 6-3, 6-1, Somdev was menaced by higher-ranked Denis Istomin in a more engaging match.

Somdev proved his athletic ability, covering the court well and keeping Istomin busy in long rallies that got longer by the set, and looked the perfect challenger to Istomin’s game. Somdev won points on Istomin’s serve and even won his first game in the first set 40-0. The 22-year-old, however, was failing to convert those long rallies into points. He lost 3-6, 4-6, 1-6.

Somdev was broken at 1-2 in the first set. At 1-3, and 40-40 twice over, Somdev had the team on it’s feet with a blinder of a forehand passing shot. He had everybody’s attention and was playing to a boisterous but thin gathering. After being broken again in the first game of the first set, it was Somdev’s turn to return favour. He lost three breakpoints but a slip and an error from Istomin helped him in breaking back for 1-1. Somdev was broken four times in all.

It looked like Somdev, who chased everything Istomin tried putting past him, had learnt from errors in the first set when in the second he began to draw Istomin closer to the net and made efforts himself to take his game to the middle. Istomin was also struggling with the ball keeping low and with the ball sliding off the service — the Uzbek later said that the ball was like water on the court — yet still Somdev was ineffective in the third set.

On the other hand, Bopanna, India No 1 and world No 288, had an easier time fending off Dustov. He started slow, moved slower on court, but moved to the net often. Although his racquet didn’t spew quite the amount of vicious winners he would have liked to, Bopanna didn’t have too much of a fight in the match. The first set virtually went without Bopanna losing a point on his service until at 5-2. Earlier in the set, Bopanna had broken the service of a rather-bored-and-much-too-disinterested Dustov.

The only double fault in both matches, ironically, came from Bopanna late in the second set but by this time Bopanna already had the match under wraps, finishing his third set fashionably-swift.

RESULTS

Rohan Bopanna (IND) bt

Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 6-3, 6-3, 6-1,

Somdev Dev Varman (IND) lost to Denis Istomin (UZB) 3-6, 4-6, 1-6