The Hindu : Davis Cup: Bopanna to play singles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Apr 03, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Davis Cup: Bopanna to play singles

By Our Special Correspondent

Captain Glenn Wilson (middle) flanked by Mark Nielsen (left) and Alistair Hunt (right), members of the New Zealand Davis Cup team, in discussion after the practice session in Kolkata on Wednesday.

KOLKATA APRIL 2. There was no hesitation as captain Ramesh Krishnan named Rohan Bopanna to play the singles along with Leander Paes in the Asia Oceania group `I' second round Davis Cup tie scheduled to be held at the South Club here from April 4 to 6.

That is a fair indication of the progress that Bopanna has made from the last tie he played in Delhi in February, when the captain had opted to make the announcement on the day of the draw.

"The acid test will be on court", said Ramesh, when queried about Bopanna's progress.

"Bopanna has the confidence now after the win, and he played well in the Futures tournament in Mumbai recently.

"I think we have a good chance in all the five rubbers", said Ramesh, after supervising a rigorous workout on the fast grasscourts on Wednesday evening.

The captain was quick to say that a few more days of practice would have been ideal, and that he would have liked Leander practising from Sunday rather than Tuesday.

"Having said that, the positive side of it is that Leander had a good tournament in Miami. In fact, he has been very positive of late, and I don't know which one was the reason for the other, between his fitness and the wins", observed Ramesh.

Rohan Bopanna was quietly confident about putting up a better fare than what he had dished out in Delhi.

"I think I should use the crowd to my advantage, rather than getting tense or things like that. I hope to play to my strengths", said Bopanna, who restricted himself to one session of practice.

The captain was happy that Mahesh Bhupathi had also joined the team and went through the training regiment quite religiously.

"Having gone and beaten them in New Zealand, we are the favourites in this tie. But in Davis Cup you can't say anything for sure. We have done very well and hopefully will continue the good run", said Mahesh.

The Kiwi captain Glenn Wilson said that his team was satisfied with the practice on the grasscourts here as compared to the ones back home.

"We had to play on fast indoor courts to prepare ourselves for this tie. I think India is doing the right thing by trying to play to its strengths.

"Leander may be vulnerable in the first match. Once he gets into his rhythm and momentum he is too good. We saw it in New Zealand last year", said the New Zealand captain.

There was no complaint about the weather from the Kiwi team, but the young chair umpire from Slovakia, Juraj Hrabaty bled from the nose in the evening, and needed ice treatment and medical attention.

The referee, Nao Kawatei of Japan, is used to the Indian conditions after numerous visits for various tournaments. The Indian chair umpire for the tie will be Puneet Gupta.

There was busy activity at the venue, as temporary stands were being erected to entertain a crowd of about 3000.

Nearly a hundred ceiling fans have been fitted from the high roof to ensure that the tennis fans did not feel the heat.

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