The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Indifferent start by India

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Saturday, Feb 10, 2007
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Indifferent start by India

NAMANGAN: The inexperienced Indian lads stumbled off to an indifferent start, as expected, in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania group `I' tie here on Friday.

The athletic Denis Istomin and the strongly-built Farrukh Dustov proved too good for rookies Vivek Shokeen and Karan Rastogi, as Uzbekistan took a 2-0 lead on the opening day, without dropping a set in two matches.

''I have been in their shoes and I can understand their situation. It was tough for them. Vivek was very nervous to start with and got better. I have told them the good things and also what they have to do. They are young and willing to learn. That is the biggest positive sign'', said the captain of the team, Leander Paes, as he emphasised his whole-hearted support for the young team.

Pushed into the battlefront rather abruptly, as clay court specialist Somdev Dev Varman could not make it for the tie from the U.S., the 19-year-old Delhi boy, Vivek found it difficult to match the big game of Istomin in the first rubber.

Istomin may have won only one match in nearly four months on the professional circuit, but he was ready for national duty. The former Asian Champion raced to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Vivek. Karan Rastogi lost 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to Farrukh Dustov.

Asian Games double gold medalist, Leander Paes will partner Sunil Kumar in the doubles against the crack combination of Murad Inoyatov and Istomin on Saturday.

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