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Bhupathi, Likhovtseva clinch mixed doubles crown

By Nirmal Shekar

India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Elena Likhovtseva of Russia display their trophies after winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles title, by defeating Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe and Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the final on Sunday. — AFP

LONDON July 8. Mahesh Bhupathi is not the kind of man who would ever strike you as someone who's in a hurry. Sometimes he seems so laid back as to be comatose.

``Your girlfriend is here. She wants to know when you will join her to go to the Ball,'' says a tournament official interrupting an interview in a small one-on-one interview room in the bowels of the All England Lawn Tennis Club on Sunday night. Barring a handful, all the players have left the premises but Bhupathi, who has just won his sixth Grand Slam doubles title, the mixed doubles with Elena Likhovtseva of Russia, beating Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe and Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in three sets on the centre court, still has unfinished business.

Without a touch of anxiety on his face, unhurried, he tells the gentleman, "tell her I'll be there in five (minutes).'' As it turns out, it takes a little longer than that. But that's Bhupathi for you.

In a world where most professionals in his business seem to be on pins and needles all the time, for one reason or the other, he is a bit of an outsider. But the laid back attitude is, in many ways, a big plus on the tennis courts as he has proved time and again in the face of adversity in matches that matter.

On Sunday evening, in the gloaming, it was Bhupathi's brilliance that carried the team to victory, as the Russian woman seemed a touch shaky in the second set and early in the third too. ``It is nice to win a mixed again. It has been some time,'' says Bhupathi, whose last mixed title came at the U.S. Open three years ago with Ai Sugiyama, two years after his maiden Grand Slam success at the French Open in 1997 with Rika Hiraki.

``Mixed doubles is very unpredictable. You cannot plan any strategy. You just have to go out and adapt. But Elena and I have always done well here. I knew it was a question of time before we won,'' says the Indian Davis Cupper who will wed his model girlfriend Shweta Jaishankar in November this year.

Talking about men's doubles, Bhupathi says he is sticking to Max Mirnyi for some time to come. "Definitely till the U.S. Open. We enjoy playing together and we have had some good results.'' Asked if there is any chance of him getting back with Leander Paes, a partnership that yielded three Grand Slam doubles titles for the country, Bhupathi says, "Not now. As for the long term, I don't know. I will not shut out the possibility. But right now Max and I are playing well and why rock the boat.''

Meanwhile, it was the quality of competition in doubles that came as a silver lining on a Sunday when the men' singles final turned out to be a dose of yawn tennis rather than lawn tennis.

The Sister Act continues

The Williams sisters capped a magnificent summer in Europe by beating Paola Suarez of Argentina and Virginia Ruano Pascual from Spain 6-2, 7-5 to win the women's doubles title that helped Serena complete a double. And she promptly dedicated the victory to Venus saying, "I didn't want to let her down.''

After running away with the first set, the Williams sisters faced stiffer challenge in the second when both lost serves. But they steered clear of a climactic set drama by stepping on the pedal at the right time.

``We have had a good six weeks and we have both enjoyed it,'' said Venus. "But it does not make a career. We'll be relaxing a while but we have to stay focussed and keep looking after ourselves.''

Woodbridge-Bjorkman pair triumphs

In the men's doubles final, Todd Woodbridge of Australia and Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden outlasted Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5.

For Woodbridge, who won six Wimbledon titles with Mark Woodforde, it was the first with a new partner. The match had a lot of drama in the third and fourth sets after the Swede and the Australian outplayed Knowles and Nestor in the first two sets.

On the penultimate point of the match, Knowles had an argument with the chair umpire as he questioned a call on a Woodbridge winner.

"Do you know how long a foot is,'' asked Knowles. But Bjorkman came up with a superb dink on the next point and that was that. ``I really felt I could win some more but you never know,'' said

Woodbridge.

"I have another partner here who has not won it before and I presume it is a huge thrill for him. When I look back it seems amazing how many times Mark and I did it.''

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