Indian captain Leander Paes went down in a close contest against Satoshi Iwabuchi, while Mahesh Bhupathi surrendered tamely against Kei Nishikori as Japan closed the margin to 2-3 in the Asia Oceania Davis Cup round II tie in New Delhi on Sunday.
Having lost the tie 0-3 on Saturday, Japan won the consolation points as India opted to field their veteran doubles duo Paes and Bhupathi for the reverse singles.
Paes lost 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 to the left-handed Iwabuchi in a dramatic fifth rubber after Bhupathi had folded to a 5-7, 1-6 defeat against Japan's no.1 Nishikori.
On Saturday, after beating Takao Suzuki and Iwabuchi, with Bhupathi, in the doubles match, Paes had said that he was happy he wouldn't have to play the singles this time as he was not feeling 100 per cent fit. But a turn of events overnight, when Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj backed out on medical grounds, forced the 34-year-old to take field on the third day.
Though his ankle was a suspect, Paes fought hard against a reticent Iwabuchi.
A double break in the first set left too big a task for Paes to achieve. He broke Iwabuchi's serve when the Japanese was serving for the set at 5-2 but could not repeat the effort in the 10th game.
But his confidence and acumen on grass kept him in play. Paes seemed to be putting in an extra effort in his serves and lunged for his volleys. A smacking forehand pass down the line saw him break Iwabuchi in the 10th game to pocket the set.
Paes was, however, set right back in the backfoot as he lost his first service game in the deciding set. He had his chances against Iwabuchi, as he attacked the southpaw's second serve and rushed to the net but that crucial break eluded him.
Having survived two match points in the ninth game, the Indian himself was two break points up and was looking good to level the match at 5-5. Iwabuchi, who had choked on the big points in the doubles on Saturday and also looked shaky in the singles, held his nerve in the end.
After taking it to 30-40, the Japanese came up with three good first serves to deny Paes. Two returns hit hard into the net, gave Japan the match.
Earlier, Bhupathi, who replaced India's top player Prakash Amritraj in the rubber, went down 5-7, 1-6 against the 18-year-old Nishikori.
Bhupathi, playing his first singles match since 2001 (vs Japan in Davis Cup), fought on against his much-younger opponent on the might of his serve in the first set.
Despite being a break down, the 33-year-old came back when he leveled the first set at 5-5. But Nishikori did enough, despite struggling with the bad bounce once again, to keep the Indian at bay.
The second set was a complete surrender. Bhupathi hardly ever moved for either the returns or the rare occasion when the point did go into a rally. He was there to complete a mere formality and the cave-in came as a mild surprise to everyone present.
