Pressure is on India, feels Chilean team
Chile has the distinct disadvantage of
little exposure to grass courts, but the pressure will be on the
Indians as the two sides prepare for the Davis Cup world group
play-off tie to be held in New Delhi from September 19 to 21.
This is how Gabriel Silberstein spelt out his prognosis of the
match to mediapersons at the NSCI practice courts after a gruelling
workout, preceded by a long flight which fetched him to the
city in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
Marcelo Rios, the star of the Chilean side, who has just moved to
number seven in the ATP rankings, also arrived early Tuesday morning and had a
feel of the Indian conditions along with the rest of the team
members. Chilean captain Patricio Cornejo had arrived here a few days
back with the rest of the side consisting of Nicolas Massu and
Hermes Garmonal.
Silberstein felt it would be tough for his side on grass. '' I have not played on the grass at all this year, and there
is no grass court in Chile,'' he said.
Silberstein has landed here straight from Germany, where he
played in the German League and lost the final on a clay court.
A visibly jet-lagged Silberstein said he considered the tie as
a big challenge, and felt India would be definitely under pressure
despite the home turf and crowd. The pressure will come from the expectations of
the people, he pointed out.
Asked about his opponents, Silberstein said, "I've played against Leander a
couple of times before. The Indians know us well and we also know them.
They are good grass court players."
Questioned about the strategy they would adopt while playing world number five-ranked
doubles team of Leaner Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, Silberstein said, "The
doubles match accounts for only one point in the Davis Cup tie.
We will try to field the best and fittest pair available for the
doubles encounter."
Silberstein felt that in the singles, his side had the edge and said
he was trying to fight the humid conditions here, having trained
in Europe lately.
Clearly, the Chileans have the ace in Marcelo Rios, who has had
a good run in the Grand Slam events. He reached the quarters in the US Open and Australian Open, this year.
Nicolas Massu also augurs well for the future of Chilean tennis. He was world junior number two in the August rankings.
Massu has also won the junior Wimbledon and US Open doubles titles, besides eight others this year. He feels the
advantages are balanced - "India has the grass, and we have the top ten."
On the adjacent court, the Indians trained hard under cptain Jaideep Mukherjee and coaches Enrico Piperno and Nandan
Bal. Both Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi seemd to be in good touch after their recent successful run on the ATP tour.
"All our players are in good nick," Mukherjee said.
UNI
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