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Tennis
By Kamesh Srinivasan
ON A FAMILIAR ROLE: Victory in a Davis Cup tie and Leander Paes have nearly become synonymous to each other. Here the Indian star looks a charged man as he exults after winning a point against Japan's Takao Suzuki during the second singles match in New Delhi on Friday. Paes won in straight sets to bring the honours on an even keel at the end of the opening day. — V. Sudershan
The magician was at his best as he tamed Takao Suzuki 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 in just over two hours of flawless entertainment, after Rohan Bopanna was downed by his own erratic ways as much as the spirited competitiveness of Gouichi Motomura 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 in two hours and 27 minutes of labour. ``We were not too far away from being 2-0 up'', said captain Ramesh Krishnan, and he was not far from truth, at the end of the first day's action in the Asia-Oceania group `I' Davis Cup tie at the R.K. Khanna Stadium. But then, the Indian team has been so much used to being 1-1 on the first day in recent times, that it would have been a surprise, had it been otherwise, any way. On a warm and sunny afternoon, Leander assuaged the hurt feelings of the sizeable gathering, with his brilliant play. For someone ranked 1003 in the world, it was a clinical performance from Leander as he went for the jugular straightaway, and never really gave much hope for the 132nd ranked Suzuki, who did play to his standard throughout. There were many magical moments in the match when Leander was right on the spot, guided by predatorial instincts of premonition to tap a passhing shot, much to the bewilderment of Suzuki who may have been excused if he had thought that he was just putting away a winner. ``I don't know why he plays so well in Davis Cup'', exclaimed the Japanese captain Jun Kamiwazumi, as he expressed his admiration for Leander. The 29-year-old had singlehandedly taken India past Japan in Tokyo the last time the two met, and it will be in Leander's hands once again to enact another such show. Of course, you cannot forget Mahesh Bhupathi's presence in the crucial doubles. Leander was on a song. He broke Suzuki in the eighth game of the first set, by converting the second breakpoint with a passing shot. He served out the set at love. Into the second set, Leander continued to serve as well as he had being doing in recent time, and bamboozled Suzuki with an unbelievable volley to break him in the 11th game, which had the entire Indian bench standing up in approbation. Suzuki had managed to save a breakpoint earlier in the fifth game. Leander faced his only breakpoint in the whole match in the 12th game, and the Japanese came up with a spectacular backhand passing shot that hit the chalk to force the tie-break. Leander passed Suzuki and served two big ones to take a 3-0 lead. Soon he had four setpoints at 6-2 following a backhand return winner. Suzuki saved one but Leander served out the set on the next point. In the decider, there was some competition in the first game when Leander faced two deuces. In fact, that was the only game in the whole match when Leander had deuce called on his service game! Leander did let Suzuki save two breakpoints in the second game, but the Japanese's game was up in the tenth game, when Leander closed out the match with a backhand return winner, a classic crosscourt passing shot. The crowd erupted in joy for a man who had always given his very best in the Davis Cup arena. It was Leander's 61st win in a Davis Cup rubber, one short of Jaidip Mukerjea's record, which incidentally is only second behind Ramanathan Krishnan's 69. It was no surprise to see the Union External Affairs Minister, Mr. Yashwant Sinha, who is also the AITA president, seek Leander in the dressing room to convey his congratulations. Leander conceded that he had expected Rohan to give a 1-0 start for India, though it was not to be, for the 22-year-old Coorgi lacked the experience to capitalise on his strengths.
Sluggish start
On the wet court, which meant a 45-minute delayed start, Bopanna struggled to get his rhythm, as the ball hardly bounced throughout the first set. A couple of doublefaults, including calls for footfault by a professional linesman saw Bopanna getting broken in the tenth game, and dropping the first set. He was down a break at 1-4 in the second set, when Bopanna came out of his shackles to play close to his best, unleashing shots all around, and serving big. Bopanna broke back in the seventh game, as Motomura obliged with a doublefault on breakpoint. Bopanna missed a breakpoint in the 11th game, but had no problem forcing the tie-break. He did commit a couple of doublefaults to be down 2-4, but played very well thereafter, reeling off five points in a row, with a clean game and a confident demeanour. That effort gave a lot of confidence for Bopanna, and he came out firing in the third set, serving six aces in his first two service games. He was up 4-2 with a break in the sixth game, when Motomura had obliged once again with a doublefault on his third breakpoint. However, Bopanna undid all his good work and dropped serve on the next game, with a string of errors and poor serves. He was game to take the set into the tie-break, but a poor over-rule by the chair umpire Puneet Gupta on Motomura's serve, denied a 3-0 lead for Bopanna. The Japanese played very well to close out the set, which gave the team a distinct edge. A disheartened Bopanna was down 0-4 in the fourth set, as he looked to have resigned himself to fate. He did break back in the fifth game, and hung on till 3-5, when Motomura, the supreme athlete, served out the match with little fuss. ``I could have played much better. I hope this experience helps me to play better against Suzuki'', said Bopanna. Well, it is no secret that the Japanese would put Takao Suzuki in the doubles on Saturday, though they have named Jun Kato to partner Thomas Shimada. ``Suzuki is their best player, and like Leander, he needs to be on court on all three days'', said Ramesh, quite happy with the overall scenario. Bopanna may have erred in his anxiety to be at his best, but like Steve Waugh who had bagged a pair on debut and went on to enact some memorable deeds, the young Coorgi can do something on a tennis court if he retains his self-belief.
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