Can India stop the Samba boys?

Tamil Nadu chief minister M Karunanidhi did Brazil a huge ‘favour’ by picking World No.27 Thomaz Bellucci to play Friday’s opening singles encounter against Rohan Bopanna. The Coorgi, ranked 479 in the world, is on a high after a dream run at the US Open with Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, but India would have preferred Somdev Devvarman to start proceedings at the SDAT Nungambakkam Stadium.

Instead, the India No.1 will meet Ricardo Mello in the second singles as the hosts strive to reclaim a berth in the Davis Cup World Group. “I am happy Thomaz is playing first,” said Brazil’s non-playing captain Joao Zwetsch, who also doubles up as 22-year-old Bellucci’s personal coach.

“I am sure Bopanna will be high on confidence after reaching the US Open doubles final, but this is a singles match and Thomaz is well-prepared for it. Thomaz has developed his game over the past few years and no one will see him only as a clay court player. He is tough to beat on any surface,” Zwetsch added.

Meanwhile, the champion duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi will play Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares in the doubles clash on Saturday. The reverse singles will be played on Sunday. While the singles matches will kick off at 11.30 am, the doubles clash will start at 3.30 pm.

A confident Zwetsch said it’s a big advantage to have both singles players as left-handers. “It is a peculiar situation and I hope we can make use of our chances as both our singles players are ranked higher too,” he said. Talking about the conditions, he said, “More than the weather, we found it difficult to get adapted to the time difference. Having come here a week ahead, we are now fully adapted to the atmosphere.”

India’s non-playing captain Shiv Prakash Mishra hoped that Bopanna would stand up to the pressure and give India a rousing start. “He has scored some victories playing the first rubber and hopefully he can pull it off on Friday to give us a positive start,” Mishra said. Bopanna himself was unfazed. “I haven’t played him (Bellucci) before. I’ll go out and do my best tomorrow to give India a 1-0 lead. My confidence level is high,” Bopanna said.

Talking about the doubles encounter, Bhupathi was cautiously optimistic. “Leander and I start favourites but Marcelo and Bruno will not be pushovers. They had done well in French Open defeating the best doubles pair,” he said.