Paes overpowers unarmed8217; partner

CALCUTTA, FEB 6: Two of India's best known tennis stars played at the South Club today. Yet, the game failed to reach the standards it sh...

CALCUTTA, FEB 6: Two of India8217;s best known tennis stars played at the South Club today. Yet, the game failed to reach the standards it should have. Understandably, Mahesh Bhupathi was not fully fit, playing with an overused arm.

And Leander Paes was quite tense, facing his doubles partner and a player ranked more than 250 places below himself. That showed in his tennis as he served two double faults in the first game, to give away a break.

However, the fighter in Paes came back quite strongly and as Bhupathi started faltering towards the end, the top seed managed to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. There were only three breaks in the entire match, one in each set.Paes won the last two, earned a cheque for 7,200 and 70 ATP points. Bhupathi was not too far behind for his runner-up effort. He received a cheque for 4,240 and 50 ATP points.

In the doubles earlier, Eyal Ran and Noam Behr defeated Barry Cowan and Wesley Whitehouse 6-4, 6-7 7-9, 6-2 to win the title. The winners earned 3,100 while the runners-uptook home cheques for 1,820.

8220;Perhaps I never believed I could beat him,8221; Bhupathi said later, adding that the tennis on display today was terrible. 8220;Leander is a great competitor, but this time I think I let him off the hook.8221;

Bhupathi could well have won today, had his arm behaved better. 8220;My first two service games were quite long and that took the toll on my arm.8221; In fact, Bhupathi8217;s first two service games saw eight deuces with the server managing to hold both. Gulping down a pain killer, Bhupathi continued to serve big with hopes of upsetting his more famed partner.

Paes surrendered the first set and continued to struggle in the second, barely managing to hold the first game. Bhupathi had a chance to break Paes in the fifth game, but the top seed came back into the game with a beautiful drop shot. That was one of the rare good points that Paes earned in the early part of the second set.

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Paes turned the table in the next game and was point away from getting a break, when Bhupathinullified Paes8217; advantage by serving an ace. The only break of the set came in the 10th game with Bhupathi showing signs of fatigue. Coming from 0-30 behind, Paes made two brilliant returns before taking the game and the set.

His adrenaline pumping, Paes broke Bhupathi again in the second game of the third set with the Bangalore-based player serving two of his nine double faults. Both held on to their remaining serves, although Bhupathi did come close to losing his serve again in the eighth game, to give Paes his second victory over his partner in as many Challenger matches, in five minutes less than two hours. Paes later agreed that Bhupathi needs to work on his fitness.