Paes-Bhupathi looking to make most of a depleted field

Riding high after winning the Japan Open, Indian heroes Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are aiming to stamp their mark in the $750,000 ATP Tour World doubles championship, starting in Madras on Wednesday.

Playing on home soil, India's finest doubles duo, who are a wild card entry, will be more than a force to reckon with in the eight-team field which looks wide open in the absence of the undisputed World No. 1 pair of Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde of Australia.

Bhupathi and Paes have twice been in the final of the tournament, in 1997 and 1999. They finished 1999 as the number one team in the world on the ATP Tour rankings and were named doubles World champions by the International Tennis Fedaration.

They became the first team since 1952 to reach every Grand Slam doubles final in a single calender year, winning the French Open and Wimbledon championships.

"Leander and I are looking forward to doing well in front of the home crowd," Mahesh was quoted as saying by his father Krishna Bhupathi, the tournament director.

The favourites in the mega event, ending on December 17, are Ellis Ferreira (South Africa) and Rick Leach (US), who head the line-up of the eight teams. The second seeds are dual Grand Slam finalists Paul Haarhuis (The Netherlands) and Sandon Stolle (Australia).

Ferreira and Leach started the year with a bang, winning the Australian Open, while Haarhuis and Stolle, who got together only this year, have had a good run. Haarhuis, in fact, in the company of Jacco Eltingh, had won the World doubles title in 1993 and 1998.

But the absence of the Woodies has robbed the event of some of its charm. "They could not make the trip to India as much as they would have liked to," Krishna Bhupathi said, adding Woodbridge is to become a father this month.

The Czech combination of Jiri Novak and David Riki and Sweden's Nicklas Kulti and Mikael Tillstrom also had to withdraw due to injuries to Riki and Tillstrom.

Meanwhile, the courts at Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association, which received a shot in the arm with Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna being elected its president, have been spruced up and renovated for the event.

KSLTA secretary, Sunder Raju, said on Monday the draw for the championship will be held on Tuesday.

The eight teams in order of ranking are: Ellis Ferreira (RSA)/Rick Leach (USA), Paul Haarhuis (NED)/Sandon Stolle (AUS), Alex O'Brien (USA)/Jared Palmer (USA), David Adams (RSA)/John-Laffnie de Jager (RSA), Josh Eagle (AUS)/Andrew Florent (AUS), Don Johnson (USA)/Piet Norval (RSA), Jaime Oncins (BRA)/Daniel Orsanic (ARG) and Mahesh Bhupathi (IND)/Leander Paes (IND).