The Hindu : Sport : Leander's gamble pays off, India ahead 2-0

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Saturday, Apr 30, 2005

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Leander's gamble pays off, India ahead 2-0

Kamesh Srinivasan

- PHOTO: RAJEEV BHATT

POWER PACKED: Leander Paes proved that his grass court skills were intact with a comfortable win over Farrukh Dustov.

JAIPUR: Leander Paes lived up to his reputation and showed his magic on a wet grass court, making the Uzbekistan team dance to the Indian tune on the opening day of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group `I' second round encounter at the Jai Club courts here on Friday.

The 31-year-old Leander justified the faith the team placed on him by overwhelming the Uzbek No. 1 Farrukh Dustov 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-0 in an hour and 39 minutes.

It was a big relief and entertainment for the sparse crowd which had to endure a delay of an hour and 20 minutes in the morning. The 21-year-old Prakash Amritraj sustained the momentum by outplaying Denis Istomin 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 29 minutes to give India a 2-0 lead.

"It feels awesome,'' said captain Leander even as reiterated the point that it was a tough decision to keep the best-ranked player Harsh Mankad out. "I am ecstatic that it has proved a great decision. Prakash also played excellently and came out with flying colours.

"It is not easy to be the captain of an Indian team in any game. But it is important to do what is necessary and believe in the decision. Winning and losing is not in our hands. I am glad that Harsh and the whole team supported me so well,'' said Leander.

Uzbeks frustrated

It was a tough start in both matches, and as Leander aptly put it, it was very important to win the first set in them. The inexperienced Uzbeks lacked the mental strength and cracked under pressure, frustrated by their inability to utilise their big game on an unpredictable surface.

After saving a breakpoint in the seventh game, Leander looked in control before double-faulting twice and getting broken in the ninth game while serving for the set at 30-30. The champion that he is, Leander regrouped immediately to win the tie-breaker after Dustov bridged the gap from 2-4 to 4-4.

Dustov, who has a big serve, moved well and was quite sure of himself, before he lost his grip after conceding the first set. Thereafter, his game cracked and he struggled to find his rhythm on the low-bouncing court that had a few non-grassy patches too.

Leander needed only 45 minutes to wrap up the second and third sets, hardly giving the 18-year-old Dustov a chance.

The Uzbek double-faulted thrice in what turned out to be the last service game for him, a striking contrast to his authoritative display when he fired nine aces and five service winners in the contest.

Dustov, playing in only his second Davis Cup tie, simply lacked the will to battle Leander.

A delight to watch

The Indian skipper was a joy to watch. He fired seven aces and two service winners, some of the aces sneaking past Dustov. More importantly, Leander returned superbly throughout the match, as his 13 return winners would testify.

He was also quite smart at the net and had 13 volley winners. In addition, Leander hit three pleasing passing shots in what was a memorable match for him.

The Uzbek could not return that well but had 10 volley winners to prove his ability at the net. The lack of grass court shoes meant that he never got a proper grip and it came as no surprise that the two Uzbeks kept slipping, especially after being wrong-footed.

"I thought we would get at least one point on the first day. It is tough to play away on grass. Leander showed that his singles game is still very good,'' said Vadim Kutsenko, the Uzbek captain.

The 293rd-ranked Prakash was equally impressive, negotiating the big-serving Denis Istomin with competence. Once he recovered from a break in the fifth game in which Istomin made three passing shots, Prakash was on top his game and his rival.

Istomin fired as many as 12 aces, but Prakash broke him six times in the match, including a game in which the Uzbek slammed three aces. Though he missed three matchpoints at 0-40 on Istomin's serve in the seventh game of the third set, Prakash was very solid in his service games and converted his fifth matchpoint, finishing with a flourish with an ace. Prakash had started with an ace though he had only three aces in three sets.

He had six service winners, 10 volley winners and 10 passing shots, and baffled the Uzbeks with his deceptive touch and court craft. Prakash's grit was evident when he converted the sixth breakpoint off Istomin's serve in the first game of the third set.

In fact, Prakash conceded only eight points in his 10 service games after getting broken in the fifth game of the first set. It was indeed a wonderful execution of the team's gameplan.

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