The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Will Leander and Bhupathi play together?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 06, 2006
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Will Leander and Bhupathi play together?

Special Correspondent

DOHA: They are supposed to have magical communication on court. One bad match has wiped out all the good memories and there is a lot of confusion in the Indian tennis camp, as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have literally been at war with each other, in a clear case of miscommunication.

Annoyed by his poor performance when he could not hold serve in the doubles match against Chinese Taipei, Mahesh had been pushing himself hard at the practice courts, working on his serve in particular.

However, Leander could not take a `no' from his partner when he asked Mahesh to have a practice session with him.

Understandably tired, Mahesh said that he had had enough practice for the day. The exchange of words reached such a stage that Mahesh told Leander that if he did not understand him after 12 years in the circuit he could as well play with anyone else. Leander then asked Rohan Bopanna to play with him. However, the secretary general of the All India Tennis Association (AITA), Anil Khanna, asked the four players — Leander, Mahesh, Bopanna and Mustafa Ghouse — to play trials at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, so as to be able to give the nominations by noon. In fact, Mr. Khanna had intervened when Mahesh was asked to take a fitness test earlier in the day by the team doctor, by saying that he took his word for it and he was welcome to play if he was ready for it.

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