Time to look beyond Paes
After their high, Bopanna and Sharan are obvious choice for Davis Cup tie vs Serbia
NEWDELHI: When Rohan Bopanna and Divij Sharan stood on the podium with gold medals at the JSC courts in Palembang, there was both joy and relief in the Indian tennis camp. The duo had brushed aside the challenge of Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Bublik and Denis Yevseyev 6-3, 6-4 in the final to live up to the expectations.
Even before India could start the tennis competition, the squad was hit by the withdrawal of Leander Paes. India did well to win three medals, including singles bronze medals by Prajnesh Gunneswaran and Ankita Raina.
Paes was unhappy that the team had only two doubles specialists and he would have to pair up with a singles player. Being India’s top two players in ATP rankings, Bopanna and Divij wanted to play together and made their preference clear to the selectors. Bopanna is ranked 36 and Delhi boy Divij is ranked 38. Paes, on the other hand, has fallen to 80 in the world rankings.
The on–court chemistry is a key component of doubles competition. Bopanna and Divij may have got the top billing but the fact that they had not played together before made their job tougher. Left-handed Divij, a late bloomer, has been going through the best patch of his career, having reached the quarter-finals of Wimbledon (with Artem Sitak) and third round at Australian Open (with Rajeev Ram) this year. At 38, Bopanna brings with him years of experience and reached the quarter-finals of French Open (with Edouard Roger-vasselin). Bopanna can still rattle the best in business with his booming service while Divij’s reflexes at the net proved to be an ideal combination.
But what was fascinating to see during the competition was how quickly the two gelled. So much so that when the going got tough in the semi-finals against the Japanese pair of Sho Shimabukuro and Kaito Uesugi, the two Indians switched their normal sides of courts to confuse the opponents. The Indian pair came off in the super tie break, winning 6-4, 3-6, 10-8. They preserved the best for the final where the Indians were in command right from the word go. They stayed aggressive, meant business, and delivered.
In recent years, India have struggled to find one solid combination in Davis Cup. Bopanna and Paes had a brilliant win over China. It spurred the team to rally to a memorable comeback victory in April. But such victories have come far and few and it is no secret that the two have not shared the best of equations.
In three weeks’ time when India face Serbia in a World Group playoff, expect Bopanna and Divij, who has mostly been in reserves for some time now, to drive India’s challenge in doubles. “They have justified their preference of playing together and they would be obvious choice in Davis Cup,” says coach Zeeshan Ali.
While Tokyo Olympics is still far, the gold might just mark a new beginning for Indian tennis.
RIDERS IN SECOND POSITION AFTER DAY 1
JAKARTA: Indian riders put up a good performance on the first day of the three-day equestrian event. Fouaad Mirza leads the field, in the individual category, with a score of 22.40. Jitinder Singh is lying in 4th position with a competitive score of 28.80. Ashish Malik and Rakesh Kumar, the other two riders also delivered good scores. The combined team score of 86.30 puts them in second position, behind Japan at 81.40.
SREEJESH STARS
The Japanese side did manage to break India’s defence on a few