Russia will have a go at Somdev: Paes

A whisper of disappointment echoed through the Dubai tennis arena on Saturday as Lukas Dlouhys first serve weakly wound its way into the net....

A whisper of disappointment echoed through the Dubai tennis arena on Saturday as Lukas Dlouhys first serve weakly wound its way into the net. Leander Paes sprinted back to the baseline to offer words of encouragement,but seconds later,a double fault had decided their status as losing finalists at the $16,19,500 ATP event.

The second seeds,encouraged through their three-set comeback in the semi-final on Friday night with an Indian support cast in the audience,couldnt summon up the same fight as Australian Paul Hanley and Simon Aspelin of Sweden took the trophy with a 6-2 6-3 win.

But this week in the heat of Dubai has been a good one for the Indians with Somdev Devvarmans second-round show and Paess run to the doubles final and now begin the preparations for next weeks Davis Cup World Group tie against Russia. The Russians are a tough team. I dont know if Davydenko will play or not,but that wont matter because they have such a lot of depth in their side,so many players to choose from, said Paes,looking ahead to the March 5-7 match-up.

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The Indian added that Devvarman would have to be prepared to be the player the Russians would target. Somdevs improving every day,this week was also a good one for him. This tie will be a tough outing for him,since they (Russia) will know that hes our number one singles guy. Theyre really going to go after him,so he has to be ready for that, said Paes.

On a personal note,I was concerned coming into this week,but if you had told me earlier that wed go to the final,I would have taken it. Its been a good start to the year and I hope it continues, he said.