Cricket always takes centerstage in Indian sports scenario and that is why the contribution of players like Leander Paes, Bhupati, Somdev and Bopanna goes unnnoticed. Although India has not produced too many great tennis players however some brave ones have kept the tricolour flying in the international arena, namely Ramanath Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj, Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes.
Leander Paes has an exemplary record in Davis cup which is the only tournament apart from Olympics in which players represent their countries. Somehow he becomes a totally different player when he represents the tricolour. I still remember the tie against France in 1993 when he beat much higher ranked opponents Arnaud Botsch, Henri Leconte and also inspired Ramesh Krishnan to pull off a dramatich win against Cedric Pioline.
Now coming to the main story and India has caused a big upset in knocking out much fancier opponents Brazil in a play off tie to re enter the elite world group in Davis cup. I was following it on the news only and was quite pleased to see the results on opening day. Although India lost both the opening singles but Bopanna and Devarman both played out of their skins. They both took their respective opponents to the wire which was a sign that comeback was possible. Thomaz Belluci is top 25 player and Mello is no. 75 at the moment.
On the second day, Paes and Bhupati pulled off a facile win over their opponents as they have been doing quite regularly in the past. Going on the third day it was unlikely that Bopanna and Devvarman had any chances to pull off a win against the Brazilians. Chennai's heat played a crucial role but the credit needs to be given to the team members who despite of their low ranking in the international level defeated the stronger players while representing India.
Congrats to our heroes!
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68I0WR20100919?type=sportsNews
thanks for sharing.
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