The Hindu : Indians make Kiwis dance to their tune

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 07, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Indians make Kiwis dance to their tune

By Kamesh Srinivasan

India's Mahesh Bhupathi plays a backhand return, as his partner Leander Paes watches, in their doubles encounter against New Zealand's Mark Nielsen and Alistair Hunt. India won the doubles and both the reverse singles on Sunday to claim the Asia Oceania Group I Davis Cup tie 4-1 in Kolkata on Sunday. — Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

KOLKATA APRIL 6. A spell of bright sunshine bathed the South Club, a huge relief after heavy bouts of rain. And Indian tennis matched the vibrant atmosphere, being at its smiling best on Sunday.

What looked to be an intriguing tie — after it was 1-1 at the end of the second day following rain delays — turned out to be a canter for the host. Rohan Bopanna redeemed himself with an authentic win in another `live' fourth rubber — a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Jamesh Shortall — after the time-tested combination of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi set the tone in the morning, beating Mark Nielsen and Alistair Hunt 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.

India recorded a 4-1 triumph, winning three matches today, a rare accomplishment in the three-day Davis Cup programme. Leander wound up the show with his 66th victory in Cup competition, a 6-1, 6-0 dismissal of Robert Cheyne.

Like in the previous tie against Japan when Takao Suzuki could not play the first reverse singles against the Indian No. 1 Bopanna, the New Zealand No. 1 Nielsen did not figure in the reverse singles today as he was sick.

``I was lucky that way, but I was prepared to play a good match against him also. It was difficult for me to sleep last night after having lost the match from being two sets up. I told myself it was a brand new day and kept my focus. Leander, Ramesh and Mahesh also told me a few things which helped. I concentrated more on my services games and am happy with the way I played,'' said the 24-year-old Bopanna, who recorded his second win in his fifth Davis Cup rubber.

Bopanna impressed with his game as well as the resolve to make a match of it. The strong Coorgi lad put the big serves to good use, firing 13 aces and two service winners. More importantly, he restricted the doublefaults to six in the match.

Quick learner

Learning the lessons quite fast from the five-setter on Saturday, Bopanna did not drop his serve even once in the match, though he faced breakpoints in the third and ninth games of the first set. It was the big serves which bailed him out of trouble. He broke Shortall, who started well but could not sustain the good work, in the sixth game to tilt the balance in his favour.

Bopanna dropped only three points on serve in four games in the second set, even as the tall and athletic Shortall dropped serves in the first and third games to lose whatever hopes he had of making a fight of it.

In the decider, Bopanna stepped on the pedal with thunderbolt serves; he dropped only two points in all in his five service games, and one of that happened to be a doublefault!

All this proved too hot for Shortall who dropped serve with a doublefault in the ninth game to stare at defeat. Bopanna served two aces and followed that with a crisp volley on match point to punch the air in triumph. It was a job well done.

``Yesterday's match has helped him. On the whole, he played better than in Delhi. It is all about putting things together. One is the game part and the other is the winning part. I thought that yesterday's match was winnable. From whatever I have seen of him, Bopanna was returning at his best today,'' said captain Ramesh Krishnan.

With the courts quite dry, the ball bounced nicely and travelled quick much to the delight of Bopanna, who showed that he could hit groundstrokes and volley well too. Bopanna entertained the holiday crowd with breathtaking passing shots, some hit on the run.

Bopanna hit 20 winners in all to affix his stamp of authority. Shortall was no pushover, hitting 14 winners himself, but had 11 doublefaults that didn't help his confidence.

``We would have wanted to play Shortall in the doubles to get him a feel of the conditions, but it may have been too much of a load for him,'' opined the Kiwi captain, Glenn Wilson, who had no hesitation in accepting that the Indian team was easily better, especially at home.

The New Zealand captain had perhaps forgotten that the same Indian team recorded an identical 4-1 victory in Wellington in windy and bitterly cold conditions last year.

Smart strategy

Leander later said that the idea in doubles was not just to win and put the team ahead, but to tire out the opponents as well, so that they would not be in their best shape for the decisive singles later.

For all their plans and preparations, Leander and Mahesh started shakily, facing three breakpoints on the former's serve in the first game. Mahesh then dropped serve in the third. However, the duo pushed up its level — as if it was a mere matter of hitting a button — and the Kiwis started dancing to their tune, running in circles all over the court.

Nielsen was broken in the fourth and eighth games of the first set. Hunt dropped serve on the fourth breakpoint with a doublefault in the fifth game of the second set, and Nielsen was broken in the seventh thereafter to make it a straightforward affair. The story was similar in the third as Hunt and Nielsen took turns to drop serve in the fifth and seventh games.

Leander and Mahesh hit eight aces, apart from smacking 35 winners, including 19 volleys. Leander was at his delightful best at the net with quicksilver movements and rapier sharp volleys. Mahesh also showed his class with a reflex return volley winner, apart from hitting his strokes with felicity and ferocity.

Despite losing tamely, the Kiwis played their part in the overall entertainment in the doubles, hitting 16 winners, including 10 volleys.

It was a formality to play the dead fifth rubber and Leander did not disappoint the crowd. He crushed Cheyne in less than an hour, winning 11 games in a row after the Kiwi held serve in the second game.

``It was easy in the end, but I was prepared for everything today,'' said Leander, satisfied with his effort of winning all three rubbers in a Davis Cup encounter for the 15th time in 33 ties.

Mahesh was happy with his role, and said that it was always a pleasure to play Davis Cup for the country, especially at home, and observed that there was no question of being less than inspired by the lack of opposition at the Asia-Oceania level.

``Doubles is always a `live' tie. We have done well so far, and hopefully we can do it in September in the World Group play-off,'' said Mahesh.

Ramesh said that there was a strong possibility of India getting a home tie for the World Group play-off, for which the draw would be made by the ITF in a few days.

``We are looking forward to the draw, after having faced the heavyweights abroad the last few times,'' said Ramesh.

There is enough time for Bopanna to hone his skills and come back a better player to provide the much-needed support to Leander and Mahesh. And the youngster is definitely on the right track.

The results:

India 4 New Zealand 1 (Leander Paes bt Mark Nielsen 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), 6-2; Rohan Bopanna lost to Alistair Hunt 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-9; Leander Paes/Mahesh Bhupathi bt Mark Nielsen/Alistair Hunt 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; Rohan Bopanna bt James Shortall 6-3, 6-2, 6-4; Leander Paes bt Robert Cheyne 6-1, 6-0).

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