Bhupathi bites the dust

VADODARA, April 14: Prahlad Srinath's fondness for grass is almost like the Spaniards' eagerness to play at Wimbledon. He belongs to a schoo...

VADODARA, April 14: Prahlad Srinath8217;s fondness for grass is almost like the Spaniards8217; eagerness to play at Wimbledon. He belongs to a school of thought which believes that the less time you spend on grass, the better your tennis will be.

But today he had to stay put for more than two hours in the first match on centre court, and returned with one of his most creditable wins on grass. The fact that his first round victim was the second biggest star in the IPCL Cup Challenger 8212; Mahesh Bhupathi, seeded seventh, only helped him savour the moment all the more sweetly.

The 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 scoreline perhaps helped Srinath to display an unknown facet of his game 8212; playing well under pressure 8212; even as he had some incredible returns on Bhupathi8217;s serve which not only hassled the Davis Cup star but also prompted him to say, quot;I have never seen Srinath return so well,quot; Bhupathi praised. The biggest star of the 75,000 Challenger, Leander Paes, was still not out of the woods either, after surrendering the second setto Barry Cowan Britain when play was suspended for the day. Watched by his coach Bob Carmichael, Paes won the first set with contempteous ease 6-4, but a poor sixth game in the second game forced him to drop serve and Cowan held on to serve out the set 6-3. And when plays resumes on the morrow, Paes will have to chalk out fresh strategies to shake off the sticky Briton.

However, the highest seed to fall today was the fourth-seeded Czech Petr Luxa who went down to Israel8217;s Ofer Sela in three sets 7-5, 2-6, 5-7.

If anything, it was Srinath who played a solid baseline game on grass, rushing to the net as rarely as the cool breeze in Vadodara. If the first set was a smooth ride for Bhupathi, the next two sets brought out the best in Srinath. He hardly won points on Bhupathi8217;s serve in the first set, and in the second after they traded breaks in the second and third games it was Bhupathi who found that he was not getting any rhythm on his game.

Srinath had a chance to break in the eighth game of the thirdset when he three break points. But the big server survived that but then it was Srinath with his backhand returns and his acutely angled crosscourt returns which broke Bhupathi in the 12th to take the match on a forehand return.

RESULTS First Round

Singles: Jim Thomas US bt Max Mirnyi btrs 7-5, 0-6, 6-3; Hose Navarra Ita bt Sander Groen Ned 6-3, 6-3; Filippo Veglio Sui bt Zeljko Krajan Cro 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Oleg Ogorodov Uzbt bt btenoit Carelli Fra 6-7 5, 6-2, 6-3; Wesley Whitehouse RSA bt Thierry Guardiola Fra 6-3, 6-4; Ofer Sela Isr bt Petr Luxa Cze 5-7, 6-2, 7-5; Prahlad Srinath Ind bt Mahesh Bhupathi Ind 2-6, 7-5, 7-5; Marcus Hilpert Ger bt Harsh Mankad Ind 6-1, 6-3.

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Doubles: Marcus Hilpert/ David Nainkin RSA bt Sandeep Kirtane/ Vishal Uppal 6-3, 6-2; Sander Groen/ Oleg Ogorodov bt Btenoit Carelli/ Anthony Dupius 3-1 conceded; Oliver Marach/ Tomas Weindofer/ Petr Luxa/ Eyal Ran 2-6, 7-5, 7-5; Myles Wakefield/ Wesly Whitehouse bt Zeljko Krajan/ JimThomas 7-6 5, 6-3; Max Mirnyi/ Peter Tramacchi bt Vijay Kannan/ Rishi Sridhar 6-3, 6-3.