Paes-Bhupati add more laurels
It was tantamount to bearding the lion in its own residence.
Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati, in front of a Stuttgart crowd rooting for home-boys Boris Becker and Marc Goellner, pulled off a 7-5, 6-7, 7-6 win to enter the quarterfinals of the Eurocard Open, a Super-9 tournament.
The emotionalism was heightened by the realisation, among the home fans, that this could well be the last they see of Becker. Never shy of vocalising, the German crowd on this occasion went into overdrive, almost literally carrying Becker and the big-serving Goellner on a wave of support.
The first set was tight all the way, but the Indian duo, now ranked fourth in the world, matched the Becker-Goellner pair stroke for stroke and pulled off a 7-5 win. With the crowd getting even more vociferous, however, the Indians began showing signs of pressure and went down to a 1-4 deficit, before clawing their way back to take the set into a tie-breaker.
They lost, and set the stage for an intensely fought third set. Paes and Bhupati went up 5-4 at one stage on their serve. Then again, 6-5. But on both occasions, they couldn't press home the advantage as the Germans fought back to equal.
Came the inevitable tie-breaker, and this time it was a pumped up Bhupati and Paes who, turning on a display of total, all-court aggression, swamped the German pair 7-1. The game had lasted two hours, and finished way past midnight.
This extends the winning streak of the Indian pair to 9 straight games, and they will now clash with the American duo of Sebastien Lareau and Alex O'Brien, ranked one place below the Indians but seeded ahead of them here.
Paes and Bhupati can go into the quarterfinals knowing that they have beaten this pair twice earlier this year. And a powerful incentive to make it three in a row lies in the fact that if they make it to the semifinals, the Indian pair will go up against the world's best doubles team, of Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge.
For a while now, Paes and Bhupati have had the Woodies in their sights, and both the Indians have indicated that their one remaining goal for the year is to defeat the number one-ranked Woodies in matchplay.
Interestingly, while the partnership between the Indians has never looked more solid than now, the Woodies are fighting their way back out of hole. They last played together at the US Open, where they not only lost in the second round, but also had a blazing row. This is their first attempt, since then, to come back together as a team.
The Indian pair will like the opportunity of going up against the number one pair ahead of the upcoming World Doubles Championships. But first, they have to extend their winning streak against the Lareau-O'Brien combine by one more match. And their chance comes late on Saturday night.
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