All’s well that plays well
IN THE WARM UP, PAES WAS SEEN EXPLAINING HIS NEW RACQUET TO BOPANNA AND THERE WASN’T ANY APPARENT HOSTILITY
CHANDIGARH: There were fireworks aplenty but, thankfully, they all came off racquets alone. Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna put in over two hours of tennis together at the grass courts of the Chandigarh Club on Wednesday and things were amicable between them. After practice, when the verbal volleys were finally unleashed, nice things were heard.
“I have great respect for Leander and his achievements. He is one of the greatest tennis players from India. I never refused to partner him for the Olympics. All I said was that I was more comfortable with another’s style of play. It was only about compatibility on court and it isn’t personal,” said Bopanna, as he walked off the court dripping on account of the humidity.
Paes and Bopanna took on Saketh Myneni and Vishnu Vardhan. In the warm up, Paes was seen explaining his new racquet to Bopanna (custom-made by Yonex) and there wasn’t any apparent hostility. But at the same time there wasn’t also the usual bonhomie that one sees in Davis Cup squads. One could sense that the juniors were a bit cagey and tiptoed around the bigger stars. There was a palpable release in tension when Paes and Bopanna got on with their business.
“When you play for a billion people, you really can’t afford to be held back by what may have been said in the past. No matter what differences exist, I have always seen players put aside personal ego for the country. That’s been our Davis Cup tradition and that’s the way it should stay,” Paes explained.
As of now, the two are not feeding off each other’s energy and aren’t really combining with the slickness that solid doubles players exhibit. “First day, right? Wait for it to come. Let us practice a bit more and then judge,” said Paes. Looking back to the Bengaluru tie against Serbia in September 2014, the two managed to find great chemistry to pull back after a two-set deficit. “That’s the kind of magic we need to conjure again if we are to have a strong chance at Rio. Practice can make it happen,” added Paes.
PEACEFUL
Meanwhile, peace seems to be prevailing in the team and it appears that all is well for the moment. The funny bit is that even though it’s the singles players who will win or lose this tie for us. Doubles only fetches one point as against four from singles matches — the centre of all attention at the Chandigarh Club has been two veteran doubles players!
As this piece was being updated, the skies had really opened up and the tennis officials were looking worried because before the covers came on enough water had drenched the court. Even the afternoon practice had to be called off on account of rain. More rain is forecast over the weekend and it may well become a wet, wet tie. But at least, for now, there are no wet blankets in the dressing room.