The Hindu : Sport : Leander arrives first for Davis Cup

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005

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Leander arrives first for Davis Cup

By Our Special Correspondent

Leander Paes

NEW DELHI, FEB. 25. The first round defeat in Dubai may be a blessing in disguise as Leander Paes expressed his happiness at arriving much in time for the Davis Cup tie against China here on Friday.

The Atlanta Olympics bronze medallist and one of the best in the Davis Cup arena, with a 71-30 win-loss record, the 31-year-old Leander said that the only thing that was bothering him before the tie, beginning next Friday, was the lack of matches.

"I haven't played many matches this season. It was nice to get back on court in Dubai after nearly two months. We saved four set points and missed two set points in a tough first set on Wednesday . Having said that, am happy that it gives me more time to get used to the grass courts here'', said Leander.

The former world No.1 doubles star, Leander in partnership with Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia had lost 6-7 (8-10), 2-6 to Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Nicolas Kiefer of Germany in Dubai.

It was the first match after Leander had hurt his ankle in a second round doubles match at Sydney in the second week of January. He had made it to the semifinals in Chennai the previous week.

"Ligament tear takes time to heel. It is worse than breaking a bone. The ankle is not as strong as I want it to be, as yet. It means that I have to be careful about it while practising on the slippery grass courts. Anyway, it is great to be playing a home tie after a long time'', opined Leander, who will be starting his practice schedule with a session at the NSCI on Saturday morning.

The Davis Cup captain, Leander said that he was looking forward to the tie against China, though the Indian team has a 2-0 record. He revealed that the Chinese had a young player and that the Indian camp would scout about his abilities soon.

"In the next five or six days of practce I want to get my body ready for singles, doubles and singles over three days'', said Leander.

Happy for Harsh

Expressing happiness about Harsh Mankad doing very well in the Satellite circuit in Britain, where the Mumbaikar has assured himself of a minimum second place in the circuit, Leander stated that it was a good opportunity for players like Harsh and Prakash Amritraj to step up the line.

"It will be good for Prakash to play on grass at home. Harsh has won a few matches and comes in with a lot of confidence. We have time till Wednesday to decide the singles players'', said Leander.

Talking about the huge popularity wave that Sania Mirza was sailing on after her fine performances at the Australian Open and the Hyderabad Open, Leander observed that the 18-year-old Andhra girl had done very well for herself, but the test would start now as to how she tackles the overall situation and keeps pushing her game up to scale higher peaks.

''Sania is a talented and tough girl. She has a very high level of confidence. Only hard work can determine as to how far she can reach. She would need to focus on her tennis, and not get carried away by the endorsement opportunities and media coverage'', said Leander, who had opted to play mixed doubles with Sania when she was only 15, and won the Asian Games bronze medal in Busan in 2002.

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