At the 2011 Davis Cup in Serbia, Bopanna played in singles and doubles with Somdev Devvarman after Paes and Bhupathi pulled out of the tournament due to injuries. Bopanna had many Serbian fans applauding his impressive winners, but having clawed his way back into the match after falling two sets behind, he lost the match in the fifth set, 3–6, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3, 3–6. This match enabled Bopanna to qualify for the singles ties to make it to the main draw of the 2011 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Bopanna defeated Canada's Peter Polansky in a close encounter, 7–6, 3–6, 7–5, before outplaying Germany's Daniel Brands in straight sets, 7–6, 7–6, to secure his spot in the top draw. Bopanna upset higher-ranked opponents on the hard courts of the ATP Masters 1000 event.