The first week that the ace Indian doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up on the professional circuit since way back in 2004, they made the finals.
Paes and Bhupathi downplay their first round loss in Indianapolis and say the defeat is not foreboding of things to come in Beijing
NEW DELHI: The first week that the ace Indian doubles pair of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi teamed up on the professional circuit since way back in 2004, they made the finals. That was at the Ordina Open, just before Wimbledon. The second tournament they came together at was the Indianapolis Open on Wednesday where they went down to Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer of Canada in what is also another pairing building up for the Beijing Olympics. The 6-4 3-6 12-10 loss obviously rankles but both dismiss any speculation that this may portend poor tiding at the Olympics.
“The result is nothing drastic or crazy. This is the first week back after a break and we were up against a player who’s just won the Wimbledon doubles crown (Nestor) and he came out swinging. But we did have match point too and it could have gone either way. Had we converted that one point no one would be raising concerns about our chances at Beijing,” says Paes. “We have a week to practice together and we will be ready for Beijing after that. This kind of a loss really does not count. It was just one match where the world’s number one doubles player carried his partner on his shoulder and that’s all,” Bhupathi concurred.
Apart from the prowess of Nestor, both of our men were coming off days spent at home and were certainly not playing at peak potential. “A week of working together and we will be ready for Beijing,” asserts Bhupathi. The quick courts of Indianapolis are also not the best to judge the pair’s Olympic credentials. “These are lightening quick here and the courts in China are going to be much slower. That is not an excuse but just a fact since the question of comparison is being raised,” said Paes. The two prefer a slower hardcourt than a quick one and their chances are better when the ball is not coming on fast. Also the matches at Beijing won’t have the sudden death super tiebreak and would give a quality pair more chances of prevailing.
With both committed to playing with their partners at the forthcoming Toronto and Cincinnati Masters and as such go into the Summer Games with just six match outings together this year. The early ouster brought their career win loss stats to 217-79 which includes 23 tournament victories.
“No doubt this is a tough loss to take at the preparatory stage but frankly how well we do in tournaments is not really the primary concern. We need to be just fit and match sharp and that we will be after the training week as well as the two Masters events we will we competing in with our partners,” says Paes. In fact he even chooses to look at the positive side of the loss. “At least now people back home will take our Olympic expectations more realistically. We have all along said its going to be a really tough field and one can’t take anything for granted.”
Paes chooses to look at the positives. “Firstly this puts all expectations into perspective. Then, this will motivate us to work harder as a team. Beijing is going to be tough and you have to beat whoever comes your way. Just give us enough hours of practising together and we will field our best challenge at the Games,” he adds.
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