Date:09/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/09/stories/2004020903691800.htm

Sport - Tennis

Salute to a heroic performer

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, FEB. 8. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. In Indian tennis, however, it is the same man every time, for more than a decade.

Come to think of it, it is no surprise that Leander Paes has been able to crush the Kiwis by winning all his three matches in the Davis Cup arena once again, on indoor carpet in Invercargill, saving the team literally from falling apart in the Southern end of the world. For after all, Paes had done it — winning all his three matches — 15 times in 33 earlier ties, on different terrain.

Yet, the enormity of the achievement is well understood by the country's sporting fraternity, for the man had not played a singles match since April last year. Incidentally, Paes played the singles then to beat the Kiwis on familiar grass back home in Kolkata. More than that, the hero of many a memorable battle around the world was out of action for months because of a brain lesion, the medication for which had played havoc with his physical fitness, making him look like a well-fed cow at one stage.

More than preparing himself for the Australian Open mixed doubles event with the legendary Martina Navratilova, Paes was keen to get ready for the Davis Cup tie, and thus reached Melbourne, well in advance, hoping that he could play the singles qualifying event in the first Grand Slam of the year.

However, it did not work out that way as he could not get an entry, but the fine run with Navratilova helped Paes get a few matches under his belt.

For someone who has beaten the likes of Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, Henry Leconte and Arnaud Boetsch of France, Wayne Ferreira and Grant Stafford of South Africa, Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia, Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic, Jeremy Bates of Britain, apart from the likes of Hyung Taik Lee and Yong-Il Yoon of Korea, and Takao Suzuki of Japan, in live Davis Cup encounters, it was not the greatest of challenges to humble the 547th ranked Mark Nielsen and his little known teammates.

Notwithstanding the lack of big names in the opposition, there was more pressure on Paes this time, as the team expected the General to lead through all the way, in his maiden tie as the captain, what with the strong young soldiers Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj out with injuries before the tie, and Harsh Mankad complaining of a thigh strain after the first day's play. The onus was on Paes to deliver. He did so in style, dropping one set in three matches.

He is a magician, who apparently does not need to get his forehand and backhand in groove, when it comes to serving for the country. It comes naturally to him, lifting his game to competitive levels. For, the irrepressible pride stokes his passion to perform at great heights

If the younger lot cannot be inspired by a man of his admirable skills, in taking the bull by the horn in its own backyard, facing the odds and delivering the goods, almost everytime when he is called for national duty, nobody can inspire them.

With his latest accomplishment in New Zealand, Paes has taken his Davis Cup wins to 69, on par with the country's best tennis player ever, Ramanathan Krishnan. There is a promise of more to follow, that may leave Krishnan behind.

We have doffed our hats to the finest Davis Cupper of our times, many a time. Honestly, it is no surprise that the champion has given us the chance one more time.