New Delhi: India's new found tennis wonder Rohan Bopanna went down to Thomaz Belluci in five sets in the first singles match of the Davis Cup tie between India and Brazil at the Nungambakkam stadium in Chennai.
Belluci fought off a match point and overcame a 5-2 deficit in the fifth set to win: 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 4-6, 10-8.
Somdev Devvarman will take on Recardo Melo in the second singles match later on Friday.
After splitting the first two sets, the Brazilian broke Bopanna in the eleventh game of the third set and then held serve to win the all important third set.
However, Bopanna fought back brilliantly in the fourth set, breaking Belluci's serve with a rasping cross court backhand to take it 6-4 and even the match at two sets apiece.
The players traded service breaks in the first two games of the fifth and deciding set, but Bopanna broke in the fourth game and then held serve to race to a 4-1 lead.
Trailing 5-2 and facing a match point, Belluci won three games in a row to even things at 5-5.
The Brazilian finally had the last laugh when he broke Bopanna's serve at 8-8 and then served out the match with the minimum of fuss.
Bopanna along with Pakistan's Aisam Qureshi had made sporting headlines all over the world by reaching the finals of the men's doubles event at the recently concluded US Open.
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