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Davis Cup: Onus on Paes to pull off what he does best against Spain
“Leander has been one of the best doubles players for the last 20 years. It’s a good chance for us to play him here. Also, (Rohan) Bopanna. Hopefully they can play
“Leander has been one of the best doubles players for the last 20 years. It’s a good chance for us to play him here. Also, (Rohan) Bopanna. Hopefully they can play together.”
One would never know if it was jetlag, the humid conditions or ignorance that caused Spaniard Feliciano Lopez to mention Bopanna as Paes’ partner for the weekend’s Davis Cup World Group play-off tie.
When informed by reporters at Tuesday’s pre-draw press conference that Bopanna had pulled out of the contest, Feliciano continued, “Is he out? So… anyway, Leander is going to be a great opponent.”
A great opponent indeed, Paes is one win away from becoming the most successful doubles player in the competition’s history. There’s only one problem. He goes into this tie without a partner confirmed for Saturday’s rubber.
The 43-year-old isn’t complaining though. “We have always had a set doubles combination before. This time, we have three choices,” said Paes. “In fact, we have a fourth choice in captain (Anand Amritraj) and a fifth in coach (Zeeshan Ali),” he added, provoking laughter.
If one is to rule out the last two, the three choices are Saketh Myneni and Ramkumar Ramanathan who are keyed in for singles duty, and 19-year-old Sumit Nagal, the reserve player who was pushed in the squad in Bopanna’s absence.
Who will partner Leander?
Captain Amritraj isn’t ready to spill the beans just yet.
“I’m waiting to see the end of first day’s matches. Depending on how long and tough the matches go, both Saki and Ramkumar are in mind,” he said.
With Myneni (world No 137) and Ramanathan (202) up against world No 4 Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer (13), not many punters are backing India for the first day. Amritraj too admitted “of the five matches, doubles is still our best chance of winning a match”.
“It is closer to a 50-50 match than the singles. We are definitely in with the chance, in doubles,” added Amritraj, who also hinted that Myneni could have to pull the double duty. “Since we have someone who will hopefully be on for the first two days, I hope (Myneni) stays in the best of shape.”
Spain have options of their own. Feliciano and Marc Lopez are the reigning French Open champions, and the latter combined with Nadal to win the Olympic gold last month.
As for Paes, the 18-time Grand Slam winner is looking to impart knowledge to his potential partner.
“Saketh has been on a very good run and is a natural ad-court player. He’s got a big serve, big return. It’d be nice to be on the court with him with his wingspan. Ramkumar is also doing well, and it’d be great fun to get a chance to play with Sumit too.” As it stands, even the best chance of a win for India looks farfetched. In other words, it is squarely up to Paes to put on an inspiring show and beat the odds. After all, isn’t that what he does best?
