Lee-Hesh: Gelling, talking, helping

The world no. 2 on Monday and world no. 1 on Tuesday. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are enjoying the feast in Athens.

The world no. 2 on Monday and the world no. 1 on Tuesday. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are enjoying the feast in Athens. And getting closer to the medal round.

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Andy Roddick and Roger Federer may not be regular doubles players and must be ranked very low on the ATP doubles list. But that doesn't take anything away from the Indians — they have been focussed, they are gelling well and generally enjoying the Olympic atmosphere — and along the way, adding to their basket of famous scalps.

If they were a little subdued on Monday, Tuesday saw the duo in a more aggressive mould. The chest-butt was back, the high fives were in place and the camaraderie could be seen in small little things — the gentle tap on the head, the slap on the back. And in the end, it was not surprising to see them send Federer and Yves Allegro packing 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) in one hour and 33 minutes.

"We watched the Federer singles match on TV and we could see his face drop after the loss. We just went for the kill," said Paes.

"There was not much gap between Federer's singles and doubles match but that was not the issue. It was more a mind thing," he added.

Yes, the Swiss superstar never somehow looked to be in the game. He simply seemed to be going through the motions.

There were worried faces around the stadium when Paes had to take a three-minute break to attend to his bleeding nose. The fiber he used to block the burst blood vessel worked just fine.

India were leading 3-2 at that stage. They sealed the set comfortably.

Allegro, who looked a little out of sorts in the first set, getting broken twice, changed gears in the second. He served better and kept talking to his star partner, egging him to keep going. But like Roddick and Fish, the Swiss pair discovered that the Indians were simply a shade better.

The second set did have its moments and saw a couple of great returns by Federer. But just when it got too close for comfort, the Indians used all their experience to clinch the issue in the tie-breaker.

Paes and Bhupathi both said later that Rathore's astounding achievement had given them a "morale boost".

"I was not well... slight fever and sore throat and was resting when my father (Dr Vece) gave me the news. He really pulled through at the crunch. One amazing man. A medal in the camp does wonders for everyone," Paes said.

"I was watching the event on TV at the Games Village with other athletes. There was wild celebration after he won. We were all hugging each other, dancing, celebrating," said Bhupathi.

Talking about the nose-bleed, Paes said it was nothing serious. "It has happened before. I even underwent an operation two years ago to get it fixed."

Bhupathi added, "It happens to all players. There are no worries. We are gelling well, talking to each other, helping one another. It's going very well. We hope to maintain the quality of play. Touch wood things will work out fine."

Paes when asked whether the feeling now was similar to when he was playing in Atlanta in 1996, where he won a bronze, laughed and said, "Scarily yes. But we are taking it one game at a time."

What was the strategy when serving to Federer? "Leander went for the high kicking serves, mixing them up while I went straight for the base. It worked well," Bhupathi said.

And what was the difference between Federer and Roddick. "They are very different players. Roddick is all power... he gets in there and slams the ball hard down the middle. Federer has the best second serve in the game. He can hit anywhere. You would have noticed, we stayed back even on his second serve," Paes said.

When asked about Martina Navratilova, Paes said, "The great lady came up all the way to hug me during the opening ceremony."

It was just the perfect start to the Games for him.