New Delhi, Apr 13: Playing singles after lengthy breaks, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi`s surprisingly lacklustre performances helped Japan secure consolation wins in the inconsequential reverse matches of the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone second round tie here on Sunday.

India had won the tie yesterday after taking a 3-0 lead in the best-of-five tie to advance to the World Group Playoff in September and today`s contests were basically "fun matches", as described by skipper Paes yesterday.

But the Japanese, playing for pride, made sure that they went home with a more creditable 3-2 score line after Kei Nishikori thrashed Bhupathi 7-5 6-1 in less than an hour before Satoshi Iwabuchi beat Paes 6-4 4-6 6-4 to round off an all-win final day for the visitors.

First up was Bhupathi, who put up a rather ordinary display which bordered on being half-hearted against the Japanese teen, who did not allow the Indian to settle into his serve and volley game.

The rustiness of playing his first singles match in almost seven years were very much evident in Bhupathi`s game as he hardly made an effort to match Nishikori`s powerful game on the baseline.

In the opening set that lasted 35 minutes, Nishikori was the first to get the break after Bhupathi buried a simple backhand return into nets in the seventh game.

The Indian tried to draw Nishikori to the net but the Japanese made sure that the match was played to his strength, on the baseline. The uneven bounce of the court did trouble Nishikori when he lost his serve in the 10th game but he was able to break back in the very next game after Bhupathi double-faulted with the Japanese leading 40-15.

Bopanna, Amritraj sat out due to injury: Paes

New Delhi: Indian skipper Leander Paes on Sunday defended the decision to play himself and Mahesh Bhuapthi in the reverse singles of the Davis Cup tie against Japan, saying the move was aimed at protecting the injured Rohan Boapanna and Prakash Amritraj.

Both Paes and Bhupathi lost the inconsequential matches and India won the Asia/Oceania Zone tie 3-2 after it had taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead yesterday after winning the first two singles and the doubles to advance to the World Group Playoff in September.

"The boys (Bopanna and Amritraj) had injuries so we decided that we would play the singles," Paes said after the end of the tie at the R K Khanna Stadium here.

The veteran doubles duo were thoroughly outplayed in the respective singles matches with Bhupathi going down to teenage sensation Kei Nishikori 5-7 1-6 and Paes losing to Satoshi Iwabuchi 4-6 6-4 4-6.

Paes said a little bit of match practice ahead of the match could have seen him produce a winning result today.

"If I had more practice, I could have pulled it off. I needed to take my chances, especially in the second set, but lack of match practice meant I kept playing a safe game," Paes said.

Bhupathi, who does not even practice singles anymore, said he did not have the energy left to fight after losing the opening set.

"It was fun to go out there and play but in the second set I was tired and it showed," he said.