Rohan Bopanna found rhythm edged past Hong Chung before Yong-Kyu Lim prevented a Korean whitewash with a gritty win over Ramkumar Ramanathan in the Davis Cup Asia\Oceania Group I tie on Sunday.
Asked to take court in place of Saketh Myneni, who is still recovering from his gruelling match on Friday, Bopanna laboured to a 3-6 6-4 6-4 win against Chung, who is ranked 655 in the ATP rankings.
Bopanna last played a singles match in the Davis Cup in 2012 when he won the dead fifth rubber against Uzbekistan’s Sarvar Ikramov.
It was 10th singles win for Bopanna in Davis Cup and a dead rubber since India had sealed tie on Saturday itself by wining the doubles.
Despite losing the tie 1—4 , the Koreans have to be credited for making life tough for the Indians. They were playing on an alien surface but fought their hearts out in the tie.
India will now make its third attempt to qualify for the elite 16-nation World Group. They await the results of the World Group matches to know the rival in the play-offs to be held in September.
