The Hindu : Sport : Leander Paes decides to play singles

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 29, 2005

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Leander Paes decides to play singles

Kamesh Srinivasan

Leander is like an experienced, aged boxer walking in to meet a young and energetic rival

- PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

MAJESTIC SIGHT: The Indian Davis Cup team - Karan Rastogi, Prakash Amritraj, Leander Paes, Harsh Mankad and Mahesh Bhupathi - at the draw ceremony.

JAIPUR: Captain courageous, Leander Paes, has opted to shoulder the responsibility of leading the team from the front. Hero of many a Davis Cup triumph, the 31-year-old Leander will take on the Uzbek No. 1 Farrukh Dustov in the first rubber of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania second round encounter at the Jai Club courts here on Friday.

As expected, it was a big surprise for the Uzbek camp when the 1074th-ranked Leander nominated himself to play the singles ahead of the best-ranked player in the two teams — the 245th-ranked Harsh Mankad.

Yet, the Uzbeks were cautious not to write off the old warhorse or gloat about their enhanced chances, especially in the light of the heat, humidity and the wet grass courts.

"I am surprised. He is growing old, but has the experience. It is not going to be easy for me. He knows how to play on grass. Maybe, it is going to be easy for him,'' said the 332nd-ranked Uzbek No. 1, Farrukh Dustov, after the AITA president Yashwant Sinha had drawn his name to play the first singles at the residence of the Rajasthan sports minister, Yoonus Khan.

Without sounding arrogant the 18-year-old Dustov dismissed the idea of getting some tips from his captain Vadim Kutsenko (who has beaten Leander in both their meetings), saying that those matches were on hard courts on the professional tour and Davis Cup on grass was totally different.

"I am going to play my game,'' said Dustov, who made his debut against Indonesia last month and has a 1-1 record. He had beaten Suwandi Suwandi in five sets on the third day after losing tamely to Prima Simpatiaji on the opening day.

Though Kutsenko himself was quite surprised about Leander's decision, he said that the Indian was a great player — especially on grass and in Davis Cup — and that he was curious to see his level of game, as he had not been playing singles on the Tour for a long time.

Leander, whose last singles match was at the Chennai Open in January, said that the decision was made after a lot of discussions so that India could put its best foot forward.

"It was a calculated choice. Considering various factors, we decided that Prakash and me would share the responsibility on the opening day. Harsh is as good as anyone of us and would have stood up to the test,'' said Leander.

It will be the 37th Davis Cup tie for Leander who made his debut against Japan at Chandigarh in the doubles rubber in 1990. He has a 72-30 record and is ninth in the all-time list, 40 of those wins coming on grass. In the 24 occasions India has won when Leander has been in the team, he has won all his three matches 16 times.

Except for Eui-Jong Chang of Korea in 1991, no unknown player has ever beaten Leander on grass in Davis Cup. Only some of the best in the business — Marc Rosset, Wally Masur, Jason Stoltenberg, Jim Courier, Todd Martin, Jacco Eltingh, Jonas Bjorkman, Nicklas Kulti and Marcelo Rios — have managed that in the last 15 years.

However, one has to remember that past records are no insurance cover for the future. Leander is like an experienced, aged boxer walking in to meet a young and energetic rival like Dustov, who can be quite devastating if he gets going.

One has to see how well the Uzbeks, who looked good during practice, adapt themselves to playing on a court with low bounce without the grass court shoes.

"They may look menacing, but it is going to be a mental battle,'' said Leander, who appreciated the never say die attitude of the Uzbeks.

"This is one of my happy hunting grounds,'' said the Indian captain who hopes to give his country a flying start.

The 21-year-old Prakash said he was enjoying the experience and eager to give a good account of himself, the way he did against China. The 25-year-old Harsh took the disappointment of not playing singles in his stride and said his objective was to keep improving and support the team in the best possible manner.

Former ace Vijay Amritraj said that the chances of a No. 1 player in a Davis Cup team could never be discounted and he expected Dustov to play well against Leander.

"Victory and defeat can be frequent on both sides,'' said Vijay, happy to watch his son do what he himself had done so exceptionally over the years.

Doordarshan will telecast the match live.

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