So far, they may have played just one tournament together but Leander Paes is not worried about his on-field chemistry with Mahesh Bhupathi.
Leander says he and Bhupathi can do it in Beijing
NEW DELHI: So far, they may have played just one tournament together but Leander Paes is not worried about his on-field chemistry with Mahesh Bhupathi and the Indian Davis Cup captain oozed confidence that the ‘Indian Express’ pair would dish out quality tennis in the Beijing Olympics.
After a long hiatus, the bickering duo recently teamed up together and finished runners up in the Ordina Open to kick start their preparation for the Olympics. “We were a little unlucky not to win (the Ordina Open) when we were up a break in the first set in the final. But when it comes to Mahesh and myself, the on-court chemistry is something we don’t have to worry about,” Paes said.
“It is more about injuries, physical fitness; it is more the camaraderie off-court that we need to focus more. But as far as tennis goes, it is of a very high level. We don’t need to play that many tournaments to find that chemistry again,” he said.
Paes does not deny the bad blood between him and Bhupathi but the tennis ace insists it does not affect the show when he walks out in the middle with Bhupathi.
“When I step on the court with Mahesh I go there and do my job and when I get off that I just move away and do my own things. We are two very different people and we do things differently. When the matches finish or the practice is over we just move away and do our own things,” said Paes.
Asked about the burden of expectation that would rest on the shoulders of the duo, Paes said: “We have got to be very realistic about these expectations that we have. At the end of the day when it comes to the Olympics, we not necessarily have to look at the medal-winning round; we have got to look at every single match. The first round, the second round. That’s when you build your confidence, that’s when you build your rhythm in the tournament. For me right from the first match, one’s really going to focus hard and try and get our rhythm in that environment in Beijing.”
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