Bhupathi promises good times with Lee ‘reunion’

Indian fans starved of seeing the deadly duo in action since the second round loss to Aussie greats Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 (yes, they do play Davis Cups together) have good news in July and August. As part of their warm-up for Athens, the two will play at Toronto (July 26) and Cincinnati (August 2).

‘‘Apart from the much wanted team practice it would be a good fine tuner,’’ Bhupathi says about the prospect of the re-union. He adds, ‘‘Both of us have been winning. It’s a good sign, because it serves notice to other teams that despite us parting ways, individually we are as good as the rest.’’

But Bhupathi adds as a warning for Indian fans, ‘‘The ‘favourites’ tag might not be ideal. Competition is hot nowadays, no one spares an inch. It’s business.’’

Bhupathi, currently ranked fifth individually in the ATP doubles list, explains: ‘‘Every week there are three tournaments (five more before all converge into Greece) and every one is playing whatever they manage to get. So as far as picking favourites is concerned, it might not be fair.’’

Asked about the failure in Sydney four summers ago, Bhupathi blames the fact that he and Leander were not seeded highly for the event, and had to face the Australian champions early. ‘‘Low ranking and not being seeded really,’’ he says. ‘‘In Athens, both of us are relieved to be seeded in the top eight. Quite a contrast to Sydney.’’

It’s mainly been Belarussian Max Mirnyi for the past few seasons, but at Bastad, it was Swedish great Jonas Bjorkman who Bhupathi teamed up with. ‘‘Max has just got married and playing with Jonas was a real good experience,’’ Bhupathi says.

But all that’s not important anymore, right? It’s now straight to Toronto and the re-union to beat all re-unions. Bhupathi takes a week off now and then it’s the Awesome Twosome back in business.