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Bhupathi/Ellwood win a thriller

Shailesh Soni

The unseeded pair of Mahesh Bhuapthi and Annabel Ellwood staged a grand fightback to get the better of Ben Ellwood and Asa Carlsson 2-6, 6-4, 10-8 to enter the second round of the Wimbledon mixed doubles yesterday.

The match was full of drama and went right down to the wire. The first set saw Ellwood dropping serve rather tamely in the fourth and eighth games, as the set ended in around 15 minutes, at 2-6.

And, just when it looked as if Bhupathi and Ellwood would fall in the first round itself, they got their act together. They broke Asa Carlsson in the third game of the second set. Anna Ellwood's serve didn't seem to be under much pressure in this set and they evened the scores, taking the second set 6-4.

In the third set, Bhupathi and Ellwood had a break chance on Carlsson's serve in the third game again, but couldn't convert it, as they went through several deuces. It was the same story off Anna Ellwood's serve in the next game. After a couple of deuces, she dropped serve. Ben Ellwood's service games seemed to be a breeze, as were Bhupathi's.

Serious drama started in game eight, when, at 2-5, Annabel was down 15-40 with two match-points. Bhupathi and Ellwood somehow held on after five deuces and three match-points. They then won some 7-8 points in a row, including a quick break of Ben Ellwood. After an easy game from Mahesh, the scores were tied at 5-5.

Trouble started again when Anna was serving in the 12th game, as she was again down 30-40 with another match-point. But once again Bhupathi/Annabel held the service game. Then it was Ben's turn and he was down 15-30 facing two break attempts, but he too held on.

In the 17th game Bhupathi/Ellwood finally got a break off Ben Ellwood to go 9-7 up. Then it was left to Bhupathi to serve off the game. He did it in style to earn a hard-fought 10-8 third set win.

The top seed pair of Leander Paes and Lisa Raymond were to play a fifth match on court 7 yesterday, but the match was rescheduled for today. Yesterday, Raymond played two matches, baring the mixed doubles. She had a great day, starting off with a upset of seventh seed Arantxa Sanchez and then won in doubles alongwith Rennae Stubbs.