India's Davis Cup Hopes Dented by Unkind Draw, Serbia Loom Large

India’s chances of progressing further in the Davis Cup World Group were dealt a severe blow by an unkind draw.

India have to contend with top seeds Serbia in the first round to be played in the first week of March, next year.

The Serbs have Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Troicki, and Nenad Zimonjic in their ranks.

The Indians can count on Paes and Bhupathi to win their doubles rubber but the other two points will have to come from Bopanna and Somdev Devvarman.

Somdev is capable of springing a surprise but the dice are heavily loaded in the Serbians’ favour.

They also enjoy the advantage of playing at home.

The tie will likely be played indoors on hard courts due to the cold weather.

Serbia and India have never played each other in Davis Cup (at least Serbia hasn’t, as Serbia).

Can the Indians make it past their much higher-ranked opponents?

It will take the lion-hearts much more than mere smart play to down their adversaries.

This is the second year in succession that India will be playing their World Group first-round tie away from home.

They lost to Russia at Moscow 2-3 in March earlier this year.

The other World Group ties are as listed:

Home Nation	Opponents
Sweden	versus Russia
Czech Republic	versus Kazakhstan
Argentina	versus Romania
Chile	versus USA
Belgium	versus Spain
Croatia	versus Germany
Austria	versus France

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Quote of the day: The public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth—Edith Sitwell

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Nenad Zimonjic