MOSCOW (AP) — Russia advanced to the Davis Cup quarterfinals after Mikhail Youzhny defeated Somdev Devvarman 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 in the first reverse singles on Sunday to secure an insurmountable 3-1 lead over India.
Later, Rohan Bopanna defeated Teimuraz Gabashvili 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a meaningless last singles match as Russia finished up with a 3-2 victory in the World Group first-round series.
The 13th-ranked Youzhny dominated from the start, breaking his opponent six times while never losing his serve to close out the match in less than two hours.
"Actually it was tough to play today," Youzhny said. "He had nothing to (lose) and played for every point."
Youzhny and last-minute substitute Igor Kunitsyn won the opening singles Friday against Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna respectively. Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes steamrolled Kunitsyn and Teimuraz Gabashvili in Saturday’s doubles to narrow the gap to 2-1.
"There are no easy victories in the Davis Cup," said Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev, who turned 62 on Sunday. "This time, we had no substitutes left while all our plans were ruined."
Tarpischev said that the hard court and balls were chosen to suit Nikolay Davydenko, Russia’s top player. But Davydenko pulled out with a left wrist injury and Igor Andreev, who was called in for him and arrived from Brazil, injured his left knee in practice ahead of the match. Kunitsyn came to cheer but was forced to play an opener.
Looking back at a key early moment in the best-of-five series, he added: "If Kunitsyn had lost a set ball in the second set, it could have gone a different way."
India captain Shiv-Prakash Misra agreed with Tarpischev and said it was a good performance from his team.
"Coming back (to the World Group) after 11 years and playing away from home is always difficult," Misra said. "It will be a great experience for our players."
Russia has not lost at home since the 1995 final, when Pete Sampras won all three of his matches to lead the United States to victory. Since then, the Russians have won 17 straight.
India has reached the final three times but has yet to win a title. The team is back in the World Group for the first time since 1998.
"It’s great that we got here (World Group)," Devvarman said. "We did our best and gave all we had. Hopefully, we will have a shot again."
Russia will play Sweden or Argentina in the quarterfinals on July 9-11.
