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NOVI SAD, Serbia, March 4 (UPI) -- Somdev Devvarman claimed a tight straight-set victory Friday, pulling India into a 1-1 tie after the first day of a first-round Davis Cup series against Serbia. Serbia, the defending Davis Cup champion, opened with a five-set win from Viktor Troicki, but Devvarman won half of the points when Janko Tipsarevic served in a 7-5, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win.
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The seesaw match had 16 service breaks, including six in the final set before Devvarman claimed the tiebreaker and the victory. Devvarman won 59 percent of the points on serve and took 57 points off Tipsarevic's 113 serves.
Troicki jumped to a two-set lead but ended up battling Rohan Bopanna for more than 3 hours before escaping with a 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 3-6, 6-3 decision. Bopanna had 17 double faults among 109 unforced errors.
Bopanna and Devvarman, scheduled to play all the matches for India in the series, will try to given India an edge in Saturday's doubles match against Serbs Illija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic.
They then are to get the call for Sunday's reverse singles when Devvarman goes against Troicki and Bopanna draws Tipsarevic.
The winner of the India-Serbia series earns a Davis Cup quarterfinals berth against the winner of a series between Russia and Sweden. The Swedes own a 2-0 lead in that series.
