Double blow in singles

A few minutes into the press conference after Friday's singles rubbers, Bogdan Obradovic cheekily pointed towards the Davis Cup rankings chart hanging on the wall.

"You see that. We are World No. 2. I told you these boys can play tennis. They never got too many chances because Novak (Djokovic) and the others were always available. But today, these boys proved they can do it," said the non-playing captain of Serbia.

Throwing light on their tennis 'system' which has produced top players despite the utter lack of funds because "our country is very poor", Obradovic lavished praise on Dusan Lajovic and Filip Krajinovic, the two 20-somethings who rose to the occasion on Friday. The result: Serbia took a priceless yet largely expected 2-0 lead in their World Group playoff tie against India.

With Yuki Bhambri and Somdev Devvarman tamed and lessoned in varying degrees, it's up to Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna to put India on the board in Saturday's doubles tie. But with Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Zimonjic across the net, that would be anything but easy.

Let's go back to the two winners of the day. Lajovic's profile on atpworldtour.com says he took to playing tennis by accident. The story goes like this: as a seven-year-old, the mango-chomping lad was told that the only sport available for his age group was tennis. And so, he became a tennis player. If not, he would have embraced football.

There's nothing accidental about his rise, though. By idolising Pete Sampras and Roger Federer for their one-handed backhands, swearing by Rafael Nadal for his training regimen and learning a thing or two from the "great human being" Djokovic, the one-time ITF regular is well on his way to breaking into the top 50 and beyond. His aim: to win a Grand Slam, preferably Wimbledon.

The 24-year-old is ranked 61 in the world. By employing his flat serve, dominating the baseline rallies and digging deep into his mental reserves in the third set, Lajovic dispatched the fatigued Bhambri 6-3 6-2 7-5 in just over two hours.

If Lajovic started the job, then Krajinovic completed it with his own brand of confident tennis. Relying largely on his booming first serve and cracking forehand, the World No. 107 overpowered Devvarman 6-1 4-6 6-3 6-2. If not for Devvarman's gritty display in the second set, in which he saved break points and converted those that came his way, Krajinovic would have won in straight.

Desperate to make it count after spending a few years on the bench, Lajovic and Krajinovic played solid tennis to render ineffective India's so-called home advantage.

Ironically, it was Bhambri who drew first blood with an overhead smash to create the first break point opportunity. He converted that when Lajovic hit a forehand long. The Serb went on the attack immediately and induced three consecutive errors from Bhambri for 2-2. Lajovic broke Bhambri once again, this time to go up 5-3. Serving for the set was never this tedious as Lajovic would find out. Eight deuces and seven set points later, Lajovic thwarted Bhambri and the boisterous crowd.

The second set was a breeze. Bhambri, who continued to stick to the baseline, had no answer to the Serb's all-round play. Predictably, he was down 1-3 and soon 1-4, courtesy a horrible forehand shank. Down and deflated, he posed no challenge to Lajovic, who shone brighter than the Bangalore sun with his poetic backhands.

In the third set, Bhambri realised that his ploy of fighting fire with fire was pointless. He made some calculative approaches towards the net, produced some lovely volleys and raced to a 4-1 lead. Lajovic, however, fought back in style with a series of winners on either flank. His cause was helped by Bhambri, who went onto commit 21 of his 59 unenforced errors in the final set. Lajovic broke Bhambri in the seventh and 11th games before holding serve comfortably to clinch the match.

Devvarman put up a better show than Bhambri. He lost the first set in tame fashion, but fought back brilliantly to claim the second 6-4. One break point opportunity was all it took Krajinovic to tilt the scales in his favour. He took the third set, easily the best of the contest, 6-3. It was one-way traffic in the fourth, with Krajinovic keen on wrapping things up quickly. An early break was promptly negated by Devvarman who was vying to take it into a fifth. But Krajinovic dispelled all such delusions to claim another break of serve. A little later, it was all over.

Result: Serbia 2 leads India 0 (Dusan Lajovic bt Yuki Bhambri 6-3 6-2 7-5, Filip Krajinovic bt Somdev Devvarman 6-1 4-6 6-3 6-2)