No end to Bhupathi’s woe

CALCUTTA, APRIL 4: The last has not been heard of Mahesh Bhupathi's injury, after all. If it was a hamstring injury before the tie, it is...

CALCUTTA, APRIL 4: The last has not been heard of Mahesh Bhupathi’s injury, after all. If it was a hamstring injury before the tie, it is a lower abdomen injury on the eve of the Gold Flake Open beginning in Chennai tomorrow.

Bhupathi, who played doubles with Leander Paes yesterday, hurt his abdomen during practice three days ago. Bill Norris, the American physio with the team, told newsmen after the tie on Sunday that he would make a decision by tomorrow. “The problem is not the hamstring. It is the lower abdomen,” Norris said. The ATP Tour trainer will be in Chennai as the trainer for the tournament and will be a making a decision after examining the Indian on Monday.

Norris said that Bhupathi was being given some massage and electrical therapy. “But his hamstring is good, and he would have recovered by now had he not suffered the new injury,” he added.

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Bhupathi took a day off today and will be practising in Chennai on Monday. Indications, however, are that he will play as there will be more tolose by pulling out than by playing. Bhupathi is the only Indian who has been given a wild card to the Gold Flake Open.

Considering that Bhupathi has been battling more than one injury during the Davis Cup week, it is simply defies explanation as to why he opted to play doubles here. The tie against China could have been given a miss and the pressure would have been much less on the 24-year-old. Now that he has played one match it has become binding on Bhupathi’s part to commit himself fully for the weeks ahead.

A pull-out at this stage would mean that he would be faced with far too many uncomfortable questions. The sad part is that he doesn’t have many answers to that, not even to his partner, Paes. So, if the world number three pair leaves Chennai winless there shouldn’t be anything to get surprised about.

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