They were both pumped up, Leander’s war cry as booming as Bhupathi’s stinging backhands. The chestbutts — vintage Lee-Hesh magic — also showed up on court after the spectators had reconciled themselves to seeing Sweden complete their victory.The tie was never in question; what mattered was seeing Leander and Bhupathi win. They did, and they did it in style. The scoreline read 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 and India managed to stay afloat in the competition, even if it was just for a brief while before Johansson packed off Prakash Amritraj to pocket the play-offs 3-1 in Sweden’s favour.The more time they spent on court, the more things seemed to be falling in place. The on-court understanding was present, though it was a notch below than their golden days. ‘‘We don’t get to play with each other a lot but it’s always great to play with Leander’’, Bhupathi said about their combine.It was a professional show, given the fact that they had more to counter than just Bjorkman They had just buried, over breakfast, Leander’s “misquoted” remarks on Bhupathi — he had been reported in a daily saying Mahesh can never ever reach his ‘level’.‘‘Today’s match was crucial to us, so we had to put everything out of our minds before we entered the court’’, clarified Leander. ‘‘I share a straightforward relationship with Mahesh and it was important that he understands me completely. We had talked it (the alleged comments) about in the morning and I am happy that we were able to play like professionals today and get a win under our belt.’’Though it has always been a big temptation, thankfully Lee-Hesh were spared of question this time around. Everytime they win, Indians would weave a possibility to see the two together on Tour. Paes is actually eager to pair up with Bhupathi again, to answering the call for the Asian Games next year. “I would love to pair with Mahesh again and see that we win the gold, atleast in the doubles. We have always dominated Asian tennis and we have another opportunity to show that there.”And for the one who got carried away with India standing 2-1 in the best-of-five rubber, Prakash Amritraj, expectedly, didn’t stand too long against Johansson. The World number 20 clinically dismantled the Indian with his volleys and lobs, not to talk about the big serves to clinch the crucial fourth match 6-4, 6-3, 6-2. The tie was then declared ‘decided’ in Sweden’s favour without playing the fifth match.
