The Hindu : Sport : Leander Paes claims he was the best option

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Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007
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Leander Paes claims he was the best option

Special Correspondent

The Davis Cup captain defends his decision to play the fifth rubber

— PHOTO: AP

STEPPING UP: With his win over Makeyev, Paes has underlined his status as the country's mainstay when it comes to Davis Cup.

NEW DELHI: He is probably the best Davis Cup player in the country today. Yet, a lot of people have been left wondering if it was really necessary for Leander Paes to play the decisive fifth rubber instead of Karan Rastogi in the recently concluded Davis Cup tie against Kazakhstan at Almaty.

Dmitriy Makeyev, ranked 1245, had won only five games against Rohan Bopanna in the first rubber.

"It was tougher to make the decision as the captain. If I had lost, tongues would have been wagging, saying how I had made a fool of myself.

Playing the fifth rubber is all about the mind. I thought that I was the best equipped to handle the situation,'' said Paes on his return from Almaty.

But, did Paes not steal the chance of a youngster who was thirsting for his first win in Davis Cup, and had a realistic chance?

"To be honest, Karan was struggling on the surface. From the manner (Makeyev) played the first two sets, Karan would have had it tough.

The teammates kept telling me that I had to play. As a captain, it was my job to go for the best option,'' explained Paes. "To play myself was the better option to the best of my knowledge, in the given situation."

The skipper was all praise for Bopanna, and said that he was unlucky not to have won the fourth rubber.

"It was one hell of an effort to win two of the three. Rohan played some of the best tennis I have seen him play, especially on the first day and in the doubles.

He fought very well after losing the first two sets against Kedriouk in the fourth rubber, too"

Singles player needed

Paes was quick to stress that India needed singles players of substance to progress towards the world group of elite 16.

"We haven't had our best team for quite some time, as Rohan and Prakash Amritraj have been out," he observed.

Paes in now at No. 11 on the list for most wins in singles in Davis Cup. With a 48-21 record, he is two wins behind Ramanathan Krishnan (50-19), and that is an added incentive for Paes to make sure that he is ready for singles if the situation so warranted.

At the moment, it is three weeks with his family before he gets back to the circuit, to try and improve on his performances last year when he made the Wimbledon semifinals and won the U.S. Open doubles title with Martin Damm.

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