Andy Ram, Carca bow out

By Nandakumar Marar

MUMBAI, FEB. 12. The morning after guiding India to a heart- warming victory over China in freezing Lang Fang City, Leander Paes is already in comparatively hotter climes of Mumbai, getting himself psyched up for a different kind of challenge. He will be playing only for himself in the MTNL Cellular ATP Challenger as an unseeded player in the men's singles.

It is a fact of life the nation's No. 1 has to live with, digging deep inside for motivation after dedicated three adrenalin-filled days of his life for India in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone tie. ``It is difficult. My body is still sore after three days of Davis Cup play in sub-zero temperatures, but here I am for the Challenger, playing guys ranked higher than me. I am ranked number 231 in the world, so have to work for ATP points. The fact that I won the title last time out here means I have a lot of ATP points to defend,'' said Paes, after a workout on one of the practice courts.

The funny part is that had he been playing this international congregation of journeymen from Italy, Slovakia, Uzbekistan in a Davis Cup type of situation, Paes would have raised the level of his play to such a focussed level that all of them put together wouldn't stand a chance. But in a one-to-one situation when each one is playing for himself and his support group, the Indian does not have enough ATP singles points to earn a seeding.

The ruthlessness of such competitions was evident on day one of the MTNL Cellular ATP Satellite men's singles main draw, sixth seed Andy Ram (Israel) and fifth seed Marcello Craca (Germany) losing to rank outsiders, the former at the receiving end of a slugfest against unseeded Vasilis Mazarakis (Greece) who won 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 after a two-hour, 20-minute battle at the CCI courts. Qualifier Vitali Chvets (Belorussia) ousted the fifth seeded German, winning 7-6 (7-0), 6-3.

Italy's Stefano Galvani infused a bit of life and colour into the proceedings enroute to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory against Russian Artem Derepasko. Galvani's colourful mop of hair - a blue-green tint and an attacking game to match - wore down the inconsistent Russian.

The results: Men's singles: First round: Vasilis Mazarakis (Greece) bt 6-Andy Ram (Israel) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4; Boris Borgula (Slovakia) bt Dejan Petrovic (Aus) 6-3, 6-3; Jamie Delgado (Great Britain) bt Igor Kunitcin (Russia) 6-3, 6-3; Stefano Galvani (Italy) bt Artem Derepasko (Russia) 3-6, 6-3, 6-0; Vitali Chvets (Belorussia) bt 5-Marcello Craca (Germany) 7-6 (7-0), 6-3; Alexander Shvec (Belorussia) bt Danielle Musa (Italy) 7-5, 6-1.

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Section  : Sport
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