Paes-Bhupathi win thriller

In their unparalleled wisdom, however, the organisers thought it prudent to have Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi’s first-round doubles match scheduled as late as midnight.

It wasn’t the treatment the veterans deserved, but what a treat the duo dished out for those who stayed back till the wee hours into Tuesday! Down and seemingly out for the count, the vintage Indian Express rolled back the years to script a come-from-behind victory over the Canadian-Swiss pair of Frank Dancevic and Stanislas Wawrinka to enter the second round of the Chennai Open in front of a sparse but raucous home crowd at the Nungambakkam Stadium.

For the better part of their 3-6, 7-6 (8), 10-4 victory, which stretched just over an hour and half, the Indian pair hardly looked the part. Coming together after a gap of nine years on the Pro tour, nothing seemed to be working for the former World number one combination as its rivals, with booming serves and solid ground strokes, took 4-1 lead in no time in the first set. Though Paes-Bhupathi managed win two more games, Dancevic-Wawrinka bagged the set without breaking much sweat. While the set in itself was one-sided, Wawrinka’s tiff with the chair umpire provided a touch of drama to the proceedings.

Mid-way through the first set, the umpire refused the Swiss-Canandian pair a hawk-eye review off Bhupathi’s serve as he found the request had came too late. After a prolonged argument, Wawrinka appeared to have lost his cool as he aimed his returns at Bhupathi’s body. The lapse in concentration seemed to be taking its toll but the Swiss regrouped in time to play a big part in winning the set. But Wawrinka certainly had woken up sleeping giants. “We got fired up because he went after Hesh,” pointed out Paes before adding in jest: “Guys make mistakes and then target my partner.”

There was nothing to choose between the two pairs in the second set until the tie-breaker ensued. Given their big serves, Wawrinka-Dancevic held a distinct advantage over the home pair, and at 5-2 victory looked all but assured for them. But Paes-Bhupathi never lost hope as they regained the old magic to claw their way back into the set and push the match into Super tie-break.

The trademark chest-butt was back and the crowd was eating out of their hands as Paes-Bhupathi notched the up the tie-break with great ease.

“One thing we never do is give up,” noted Bhupathi after the match. “Close match like this will definitely give us the confidence. Today, if you see in the tie-breaker it was very easy to throw in the towel because those guys were literally serving out of the tree. There were so many aces... but the thing is we don’t give up and now we are the favourites.”