Estranged pair court again

With two aces, Bhupathi set the ball rolling. Paes on the other hand, continued to have problems with his first serve but he made up with superb net play to mesmarise the Korean pair. Team coach Anand Amritraj summed up the match by saying that in the doubles it was essential to have a solid player and a fleshy pair.

‘‘Leander is fleshy while Mahesh is solid and that makes them tick,’’ he said. Today Seok Chung proved a weak link in the Korean armoury. He served poorly, occasionally turning out double-fisted backhands from the baseline. Paes and Bhupathi went in for him while staying on during Hyung’s serve.

Chung was broken in the third game and again in the seventh of the first set. A double fault at 15-30 gave the Indians two break points for a double break. Leander served for the set and two superbly controlled lobs by Chung had the Indians trailing at 0-30.

It went to deuce thrice before Leander managed to hold on. He also looked to have some difficulty in judging the close calls and left nothing to chance.

Bhupathi, however, was full of confidence and left the outgoing balls without any worry. The Indians broke Lee in the first game of the set and got then Leander got the cover by holding his serve.

After Chung held his serve for the first time in the match, Leander struggled in the fourth game. Three poor serves and good returns had the Indians trailing 0-40. But Leander followed it up with three brilliant serves, low and fast and made it 3-1 with a backhand smash at the net. This was the crucial moment of the second set. The crowd rooted for the Koreans with Lee serving to stay in the match at 3-5. A lucky net chord from Bhupathi’s backhand landed over Chung and saw the Indians wrap up the match on the fourth match-point.