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Paes and Bhupathi close it out

Kamesh Srinivasan

The win earns India a spot in the World Group playoffs

— Photo: Sandeep Saxena

JOB DONE: It was tougher than expected, but the experience of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi saw them clinch the match and, with it, the tie.

NEW DELHI: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi stumbled a bit, but the seasoned campaigners regrouped efficiently to cruise to a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Satoshi Iwabuchi and Takao Suzuki, to give India a decisive 3-0 lead against Japan in the Asia-Oceania group ‘I’ Davis Cup tie at the R.K. Khanna Stadium here on Saturday. This win earns India a berth in the World Group playoffs in September.

The Indian pair, playing together for the first time after the Doha Asian Games in December 2006, took time to settle down and forced the issue in the tie-break where Bhupathi and Paes dominated the net from 4-2 to wrest the initiative. The Indian pair had as many as 40 volley winners in the match that lasted two hours and 43 minutes.

Doughty fighters

It was not as easy as the scoreline may suggest. Suzuki and Iwabuchi broke Paes in the sixth game of the second set to even the scores. The Indian team was in a further spot of bother on Bhupathi’s serve in the seventh game of the third set when it was two breakpoints down, but fought back remarkably, albeit with the help of a dubious line call on a first serve.

The Japanese duo faced a breakpoint for the first time in the match only in the eighth game of the third set and Bhupathi smacked a backhand return winner down the line to tilt the balance in favour of the host.

Paes delivered a couple of double-faults in the next game but served the set out.

In the fourth set, Iwabuchi was broken in the seventh game and Paes wound up the show in style with an ace down the middle.

Finding rhythm

“There was a little bit of drama in the second set but once we found our rhythm, it was pretty smooth. I did expect the Japanese to fight better,” said Paes. “It is a great feeling. I had the gut feeling that it would not go to the fifth rubber this time. Playing with Mahesh has been really enjoyable. I’m happier being a playing captain.”

Bhupathi said: “They are tough customers. Once we lost that second set, it was important to step up and we just rolled once we did that.”

Japanese disappointed

The Japanese camp was understandably disappointed with the unexpectedly quick defeat.

“I expected it to be 2-1 or 1-2 after the doubles. I was looking for a 3-2 victory. We will try to fight till the end and make it 2-3” noted the Japanese captain, Eiji Takeuchi.

Takeuchi praised Bhupathi for his quickness in coming in for the volleys. He also said his team did not get a chance once Paes started finding the range of his “trick shots.”

“It is disappointing for me not to have won in India. We should have played better in the tie-break,” Suzuki said.

“I really wanted to give Kei (Nishikori) and Go (Soeda) another chance. I should have been more aggressive. They also read my serve well,” said Iwabuchi, who dropped serve twice.

Suzuki was gracious in refusing to find fault with the umpire for missing a questionable first serve when Bhupathi’s serve was under pressure at 15-40 in the seventh game of the third set. “Of course, they did a good job,” he said, of the officials.

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