Tennis — India take 2-1 lead 0ver Korea

Uppal and Leander Paes beat South Koreans Hyung-Taik Lee and Yong-Il Yoon 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the crucial doubles rubber and put India in a good position to win the tie on Sunday.

India had to win the doubles after honours were shared on the first day — Paes winning and Syed Fazaluddin losing in singles. Non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan must have been under tremendous pressure to change the initially-announced combination of Paes and Fazal. But in the end, he probably figured he couldn’t risk Fazal, more so if the latter had to play in a must-win situation on Sunday. Korean captain Won Jong Hoo stated after the match, “If the other boy (Fazal) was there, we may have won. This one was not at all nervous.”

By opting for Uppal, Ramesh Krishnan took a calculated gamble and it worked. The success of the venture has given India another option in MaheshBhupathi’s absence, and has done wonders to Uppal’s confidence. In addition, the day’s break would have been good for Fazal to relax and consign his singles loss to the past and look to winning his reverse singles on Sunday.

In the first set-and-a-half, it was Uppal who dominated. The India No 1 seemed a bit off-colour in the beginning, missing some volleys which would have been his for the taking. Uppal didn’t make his first unforced error till the ninth game, when he missed a volley. Incidentally, the opening and closing points of the match go to Uppal’s kitty.

He began with an overhead smash and ended with an ace. Although that last point looked a little doubtful, once called good it stayed that way. Paes, who later said, “Vishal took a lot of load off me,” added that it was Ramesh Krishnan and Uppal who kept him composed after India lost the first set.

Uppal also gave credit to his partner and captain, saying Paes calmed him down when he had dished out three double faults in succession in the second game of the fourth set and kept him going throughout, while Ramesh Krishnan was constantly behind him throughout the match.

After that initial hiccup, Paes was all over. Uppal, playing his first fourth-setter (having never reached a National final, he hasn’t played a best of five) and first Davis Cup match, was enthusiastic at the beginning and giving it his all.

Yet, the kind of effort and intensity he put in initially, is difficult to sustain throughout the match. Half-way through, Uppal was making a few unforced errors, his first serve percentage dropped and Paes had to call on all his experience to carry on the momentum and keep the Koreans off-balance.

Joo said the Indians were helped by the fact that midway through, Korea No 2 Yoon was tiring, his serves were becoming slower and easier to return. Former India captain Naresh Kumar said afterwards the cardinal mistake made by the Korean duo after the first set was that they stayed back.

“They were fine as long as they were attacking. The moment they started staying back, I knew we had won. On grass, you cannot play from the back.” If things go according to plan, Paes should beat Korea No 1 Lee in the first reverse singles, to wrap up the tie.