Paes and Bhupathi keep India afloat

The Hindu

Chennai, 19 September 2010: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi kept India alive in its Davis World Group play-off with a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1 win over Brazil’s Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares at the SDAT Tennis Stadium on Saturday. The victory, which extended the Indian duo’s Davis Cup winning streak to 24 matches, pegged the tie at 2-1 in Brazil’s favour, also preventing Sunday’s reverse singles from descending into redundancy.

 

Brief revival

 

Melo and Soares had a brief revival in the second set, where they held four points for its closure, but wasted away every single one before going down tamely in the third. “Magic happens when we play together,” said Leander later. But the outcome was more a result of pragmatic strategising than a work of the dark arts. As Paes revealed, the plan was to return well and impose a volley game on the Brazilians, who, thus baited, would be sitting ducks for cross-court winners.

 

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes being congratulated by Marcelo Mello and Bruno Soares after their victory over the latter in the Davis Cup doubles match in Chennai on Saturday.

 

Melo served first up in the opener, only to be broken at 30. Another break in the third game, this time of the Soares’ serve, gave the Indians a 4-0 lead. Bhupathi lost his service, in the sixth game, but the Indians preserved their lone-break advantage to close the set, Bhupathi hurling down an ace on set-point after being 0-30 down.

 

The fun began in the second set as the Latin Americans, serving ahead, found their feet. After service was held for nine games, Paes served to stay in the set and faced a double break point, effectively a set-point, at 15-40, 4-5.

 

But Bhupathi, who had some trouble getting his first serves in, directed a forehand volley at Melo’s feet to save the first. An overhead kill that took care of the second and was followed by the much-awaited chest bump, which was impeded by a bit of belly from either party.

 

Another couple of set-points awaited the Brazilians, this time on Bhupathi’s serve at 5-6, but Paes’ heightened awareness at the net took the second set into a breaker. A mini-break stolen on Paes’ serve gave the Brazilians a 4-1 lead, before the home favourites arrested their rivals’ progress on five points, going two sets up. Needless to say, another chest bump was carried out, as the crowd cheered their boys on.

 

Double break

 

A double break in the third set, in the second and sixth game, handed Paes and Bhupathi the match on a platter, in two hours and 19 minutes. Asked about India’s chances on the morrow, Paes said, “It’s a tough ask. But it’s the Davis Cup and anything can happen. (Thomaz) Bellucci looked a little tired after his first match, so let’s see how it pans out.”

 

India’s non-playing captain, S.P. Mishra, said, “It’s a relief to get a win today. If Somdev plays well, he has the capacity and the game to beat anybody on his day.”

 

The result: Leander Paes & Mahesh Bhupathi (Ind) bt Marcelo Melo & Bruno Soares (Bra) 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-1.

 

Order of Play for Sunday (11.30 a.m. start): Somdev Devvarman (Ind) vs Thomaz Bellucci (Bra) followed by Rohan Bopanna (Ind) vs Ricardo Mello (Bra).