Yuki Bhambri rescued India with an impressive victory following Somdev Devvarman's shock defeat, leaving the visitors locked 1-1 with New Zealand on Day 1 of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group I tie, in Christchurch, on Friday.
Somdev was beaten by Michael Venus, ranked as low as 548, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 3-6, 1-6 in the opening singles after three hours and 43 minutes.
Coming into the match after winning a Challenger title in the US, the Indian was firmly in control of the opening singles before losing his way.
Egged on by the home crowd, Venus recovered amazingly after losing the first two sets and outsmarted 148-ranked Somdev.
The onus was then on Yuki to bring India back into the tie, and he did not disappoint.
He raced to a 6-2, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Jose Statham in the second singles.
In the opening set, Yuki broke Statham in the fifth game for a 3-2 lead and consolidated his position with an easy hold in the next.
The Indian youngster, ranked 151, was on top of his game as he broke Statham for the second time in the seventh game and served out the set in the second.
An early break put Yuki in the driver's seat. Statham held serve in third but dropped again in the fifth to hand the 23-year-old Delhi boy a 4-1 cushion.
Yuki had tightened his grip over the match and it was a matter of time before he served out the second too.
Statham raised his game a bit, putting up some fight against Yuki as the first five games went on serve. However, Yuki yet again found a way to get a break and established a 4-2 lead, following a break in the sixth game.
He held serve in the next and at 2-5 Statham was serving to stay in the set.
The Kiwi player held in the eighth but could not stop Yuki from serving out the match in the next.
The winner of the tie will qualify for the World Group Play-offs to be held in September.
