Davis Cup: India loses 4-0 to Serbia

Sriram Balaji lost 6-3, 6-1 to Pedja Krstin in a dead rubber, extending Serbia's lead to 4-0 in the tie.

India will play reverse singles against Serbia after losing Friday's tie 3-0.

Good evening and welcome to the live updates of the World Group Playoff clash between India and Serbia.

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Austria takes down Australia to book its spot in the 2019 #DavisCupFinals Qualifying Round!

A passionate home crowd in Graz played its part. Will Austria play in front of its own fans in February? Find out in the #DavisCup draw on 26 September!

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— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 16, 2018

 

5:45pm: Krstin takes the second to win the reverse singles tie 6-3, 6-1. Serbia extends its lead to 4-0 in the tie.

5:33pm: The reverse singles has now become inconsequential as Sriram Balaji takes on P. Krstin. The Indian lost the first set 3-6 and trailing 0-5 in the second.

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Rohan Bopanna and Saketh Myneni lost the do-or-die doubles rubber against Serbia as India conceded an unassailable 0-3 lead to lose the Davis Cup World Group Play-off tie in Kraljevo on Saturday.

However India can still have a shot at the qualification for the Davis Cup finals in five months from now as per new rules.

After losing both the singles on Friday, India needed a win to stay alive but Bopanna and Myneni, who replaced originally nominated N. Sriram Balaji, could not keep the country afloat. They lost 6-7(5) 2-6 6-7(4) to a relatively inexperienced pair of Nikola Milojevic and Danilo Petrovic after two hours and 22 minutes at Kraljevo Sports Venue.

A new Davis Cup format means that India will not have to go back to Asia/Oceania Group immediately. Instead, it will compete in a 24-team qualifying event (home and away format) in February, 2019 to qualify for the 18-team Davis Cup Finals, to be held either in Madrid or Lille from November 18-24, next year.