Date:09/02/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/02/09/stories/2004020903721800.htm

Sport - Tennis

Paes leads India to victory

INVERCARGILL (NEW ZEALAND), FEB. 8. Captain Leander Paes led India to a 3-2 win over New Zealand in its Asia-Oceania Davis Cup tennis match with a four set victory over Simon Rea in the second reverse singles here on Sunday.

Paes won his opening singles against New Zealand No. 1 Mark Nielsen on Friday, took the doubles on Saturday with Mahesh Bhupathi and decided the match in India's favour when he beat Rea 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 on Sunday.

Paes is on a comeback after undergoing surgery in Florida last August for a non-malignant brain lesion.

India entered the final day with a 2-1 lead but found itself under pressure when Nielsen won the first reverse singles 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 over newcomer Vishal Punna. Paes decided to nominate Punna after Indian No. 1 Harsh Mankad struggled on the fast court surface in the opening singles.

Punna, who was making his Cup debut, has a big serve and a faster game than Mankad and was thought to be better suited to the hard-court surface.

Under greater pressure when he quickly conceded the first set to Rae, Paes ground out a vital service break in the second, then swept through the last two sets as Rae faltered.

At Jakarta, Japan posted a 3-2 win over Indonesia. In the reverse singles Gouichi Motomura put it past Prima Simpatiaji 5-7, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 after his countryman Takahiro Terachi retired after losing the first set against Febi Widhiyanto to put the Indonesians on par.

In the other matches in the group, Thailand blanked Pakistan 5-0 at Bangkok, while Uzbekistan scored a 4-1 win over Taiwan at Taipei.