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Serbs confident

PARIS: Serbia opens its defence of the Davis Cup on Friday with a home tie against India, while Jim Courier takes charge of the United States for the first time with a tough tie away to Chile.

The Serbs grabbed their first ever Davis Cup triumph in December by bouncing back from 1-2 down to defeat France in an enthralling final in Belgrade.

Hero of the 2010 Serbian campaign and now Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic will miss the tie as he takes some time off to recover physically from a hectic start to the year.

But with experienced campaigners like Victor Troicki, Janko Tipsarevic and doubles expert Nenad Zimonjic, the Serbs should still have enough firepower to see off the Indians, especially since they will be without top doubles pair Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, who are both injured.

Asian and Commonwealth Games champion Somdev Devvarman will shoulder Indian hopes, but he will start as underdog in both his singles rubbers.

Draw for Davis Cup World Group: First round: Serbia vs. India at Novi Sad: Friday: Viktor Troicki vs. Rohan Bopanna; Janko Tipsarevic vs. Somdev Devvarman.

Saturday: Ilija Bozoljac & Nenad Zimonjic vs. Rohan Bopanna & Somdev Devvarman.

Sunday: Viktor Troicki vs. Somdev Devvarman; Janko Tipsarevic vs. Rohan Bopanna.

Other World Group first round ties: Sweden vs. Russia at Boras; Czech Republic vs. Kazakhstan at Ostrava; Argentina vs. Romania at Buenos Aires; Chile vs. United States at Santiago; Belgium vs. Spain at Charleroi; Croatia vs. Germany at Zagreb; Austria vs. France at Vienna . — Agencies

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