After being 0-4 down in the first set, I decided to start afresh from the second set. I grew in confidence after I held the first game of the second set and after that I started playing

well,' he said.

Contrastingly, it was a fairly easy win for Somdev. The 133rd-ranked Indian was favoured to win the match, having earlier beaten the 290th-ranked van der Merwe in straight sets at the Aptos challenger quarters in July. The Indian took two hours and 13 minutes to close out the match.

Somdev was given a stiff fight in the first set by Van der Merwe, whose impeccable volleying neutralised the powerful backcourt play of the Indian.

But the Indian shifted gears in the next two sets, complementing his groundstrokes with some strategic net play. As the South African lapsed into errors, Somdev came up with spectacular backhand hitting to make the set one-sided.

However, that was not the case in the first set. The two players served big and barring facing break points in two successive games, Somdev in the eighth and van der Merwe in the the ninth, neither had difficulty holding.

The set entered a tie-break where Somdev cruised to a 5-2 lead and when van der Merwe double faulted at 6-5, India was 1-0 up.

Somdev was in control in the second set, stroking freely and passing the South African easily. He broke the South African in the sixth game with a backhand pass after fighting off four deuces. The Indian then held his serve at love to consolidate a 5-2 lead before serving out the set.

In the decider, the South African ran out of fizz and struggled to hold serve in the first game itself as he had to save two break points. After that the Indian had to only hold his serve which he did without any alarms.

Somdev said he was happy to give India a winning start.

'It's all about preparation and giving your best shot in the match. I am happy to make a winning start for India,' said Somdev.

'Van der Merwe can be a dangerous player if you give him confidence. It was huge for me to get on top of the tie-breaker and then keep up the pressure.'