Tennis Briefs - Sania Mirza loses Pattaya Open final

Reuters, BANGKOK: Russian top seed Vera Zvonareva overcame a tough challenge from a battling Sania Mirza to win the Pattaya Open final 7-5 6-1 on Sunday. For more click here

Indo-Asian News Service, SAN JOSE: India's Rohan Bopanna and Jarkko Nieminen of Finland went down to Czech Radek Stepanek and German Tommy Haas in the $600,000 SAP Open final here. For more click here

Indo-Asian News Service, ROTTERDAM: India's Leander Paes and Czech Lukas Dlouhy went down to top seeds Serbian Nenad Zimonjic and Canada's Daniel Nestor 2-6, 5-7 in the World Tennis Tournament final here Sunday. For more click here

ATP RANKINGS (16 February 2009)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
154 (+1) Devvarman, Somdev
198 (+1) Amritraj, Prakash
321 (+4) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
5 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
7 (0) Paes, Leander
78 (+7) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (16 February 2009)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
87 (+39) Mirza, Sania
221 (-5) Rao, Sunitha
361 (-2) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
63 (+7) Mirza, Sania
213 (-3) Rao, Sunitha
306 (-5) Uberoi, Shikha

For India, so near, and yet so far

It is often said that anything is possible in Davis Cup, but in Bucharest the form guide held up to scrutiny. Host nation Romania entered its World Group Play-off against India as firm favourites, with a substantial edge in terms of rankings and clay court experience.

This would, in the end, prove enough to keep them in the World Group for another year – even if, as expected, India's ever-reliable doubles stars, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, came up with the goods in the doubles rubber for the umpteenth time.

"Of course we are happy, although we expected this," smiled Romanian captain Adrian Marcu at the completion of the tie. "I said three days ago it would be 4-1, and it was 4-1."

He added: "The Indian players have a lot of experience of playing on grass courts or hard courts, whereas our players spend at least 70% of their careers on clay. It's a bit of a different game and that was a big advantage for us."

But while the Romanians began the final day's play with a 2-1 lead, the scenario could have been quite different.

In losing the opening singles rubber on Friday to the local No. 2, Victor Crivoi, Indian No. 1 Prakash Amritraj did well to win the second set from behind – but he had also been ahead in the first set before losing it.

With a two-set lead, the 24-year-old's swashbuckling serve and volley strategy might have kept Crivoi off balance long enough to secure a momentum-changing win.

Victor Hanescu, the Romanian No. 1, would still have been too strong for Tour newcomer Somdev Devvarman, but given the closeness of the dead rubber between Devvarman and Crivoi on Sunday afternoon – Devvarman served for the match at 5-3 in the second set, only to wake up when trailing 0-5 in the third – a live Devvarman-Crivoi rubber on the first day might have cast a different light on proceedings.

Indian singles: work in progress

All of this is moot, of course, leaving captain Shiv Prakash Misra, himself a former Davis Cup player, to ponder the challenges of building up his side’s strength in singles.

Devvarman, a rookie at 23, clearly knows that although he has improved his ranking by 800 places in the last four months, it will only get harder from now on, while Amritraj, who turns 25 next month, had never before played on clay at this level.

"I think Leander and Mahesh are going to be around for quite some time," Misra said of his thirty something doubles stalwarts, who are the fourth most successful Davis Cup pairing in history (in winning Saturday’s doubles rubber, Paes actually moved to equal second place on the list of individual doubles wins, at 35-9, and third outright in overall wins, at 83-31).

"They are still fit and genuinely committed to the team. But with four singles and one doubles ties, winning the doubles is not enough."

A dignified gentleman who was coerced by his players into singing the Indian national anthem at the official dinner as a means of initiation, added: "When you’ve got a team of four with two specialist doubles players it's tough. But I think with time Prakash and Somdev are going to improve. They are going to learn how to last five sets and to close out a match at the right time, and they are going to be serving their country for a long time."

Romanian prospects

It's back to the Asia/Oceania zonal competition for India, Romania has kept its treasured place in the World Group.

The team could be forgiven for hoping their first round opponents aren't of a Gallic inclination, having fallen to France at the first hurdle in each of the past two years.

Like Misra, captain Marcu has a blend of experience to work with; 27-year-old Hanescu is undoubtedly at the core of the team, but Crivoi, whose Davis Cup record before this weekend was a drubbing at the hands of Korea’s Hyung-Taik Lee in 2006, has clearly shifted gears as well.

"I could have let one of the other players play the dead rubber but I wanted the experience," the 26-year-old said after his comeback win over Devvarman. "I feel great – it has given me a lot of confidence."

Furthermore, with Romanian legend Ilie Nastase watching on from the stands, the country's doubles team of Adrian Cruciat and Horia Tecau put on a boisterous display against Bhupathi and Paes. While they were let down by loose shots at key moments, their performance augured well for the future.

"Yes, that was a little bit unexpected, because it was their first Davis Cup match and it was against two great players," Marcu admitted. "They had their chances, were a break ahead in the first set and a break ahead in the second set, so they put a good match together. Hopefully we can develop them into a great team."

(Official report from the Davis Cup website)

(Official Photos by Robert Ghement)

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi crash out at Indianapolis

Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes squandered a matchpoint to lose to Daniel Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer of Canada 4-6, 6-3, 10-12 in the first round of the $525,000 Indianapolis Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

The Indian Express were making only their second ATP main draw appearance together since 2004, trying to get some match practice ahead of their quest for Olympic gold at Beijing next month. The duo had reached the Ordina Open final in the Netherlands in June.

Bhupathi and Paes could again face ATP Doubles ranking leader Nestor and Niemeyer at the Olympics as the duo will be representing Canada in Beijing.

On Wednesday, Nestor and Niemeyer held triple match point at 9-6 in the match tie-break but Bhupathi and Paes leveled the score at 9-all and then took the 10-9 lead. The Canadians responded by winning the next three points to prevail against the No. 1 seeds in one hour and 25 minutes.

Bhupathi and Paes have a 217-79 career record as a pair. They have won 23 titles together but now play with separate partners on the ATP Tour.

Earlier, Rohan Bopanna teamed up with Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi to defeat No. 4 seeds Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov 2-6, 7-5, 10-6.

Bopanna was ranked a career-high 43 in the ATP doubles list on Monday thanks to an appearance in the final at Newport last week.

(Watch Bhupathi and Paes speak of their chances at the Beijing Olympics in this interview to ATP)

Wimbledon 2008 starts with four Indians in focus

Sania Mirza, Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna are in action at Wimbledon this week although it's tough to predict whether any of them will survive till the second week of the grasscourt Grand Slam.

Prakash Amritraj and Sunitha Rao crashed out in the second round of singles qualifying but two other Indians - Yuki Bhambri and Poojashree Venkatesh - will also be battling it out in the junior events.

Mirza, returning from a long break after wrist surgery, will be hoping to better her previous showing at Wimbledon -- reaching the second round in 2005 and 2007.

She's played two tournaments since rejoining the WTA tour and her performance hasn't been exactly impressive.

But the number 32 seed has a slightly easier draw at Wimbledon this year and her most formidable opponent should be defending champion Venus Williams in the third round.

Beating Venus on grass would seem impossible for the Indian number one but Mirza should be more than happy if she makes the elder Williams sweat it out over three sets on Centre Court.

As usual, there's no representation from India in the men's singles - although Bopanna would have been a good bet to make it through the qualifiers, had he played them. But a low ranking forced him to miss the Grand Slam this year. Last week, Bopanna replaced Amritraj as India's number one and hopefully he should be around for the U.S. Open qualifiers.

Bopanna, 28, will be making his debut at Wimbledon in the men's doubles with Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi.

Mahesh Bhupathi is recovering from a few injuries of his own and it remains to be seen if he and Mark Knowles, seeded fourth here, can recapture the form that saw them bag two doubles titles earlier this year.

Leander Paes, who turned 35 last week, seems to be in better form after breaking his lacklustre partnership with Australian Paul Hanley. The Kolkatan partnered Bhupathi to the Ordina Open final last week and reached the Halle final with Czech player Lukas Dlouhy in their first outing. Paes and Dlouhy are seeded ninth here.

This week, Indian tennis fans will also be keeping an eye on the USA F15 Futures in Rochester where double NCAA champion Somdev Dev Varman is playing his first professional match since leaving college.

No French luck for Indians, moving on to grass now

No luck at the 2008 French Open for India. Even Mahesh Bhupathi, the only player from the country to survive the first week, was forced to concede his mixed doubles semifinal after injuring his calf muscle.

Will this affect his chances at events in the run-up to Wimbledon?

"Hopefully not" was all that the doubles specialist told The Indian Tennis Blog.

Bhupathi, who turned 34 on Saturday, is partnering Rohan Bopanna at the Artois Championship in London this week.

Arch rival Leander Paes (that's still how the media describes the split halves of the Indian Express) continues his not-so-old partnership with Czech player Lukas Dlouhy at the Gerry Weber Open in Halle.

Playing together for the first time, the duo put up a decent show at Roland Garros, losing to eventual champions Horna and Cuevas in the pre-quarterfinals.

Even tennis prodigy Yuki Bhambri stumbled in his opening encounter of the boys' singles. Was India's next tennis hope, so impressive in his run to the semifinals of the Australian Open in January, a no-show on clay courts?

The 15-year-old didn't think so and that's what he told the Indian Tennis Blog after his early ouster.

"I'm fit and fine. I think it was just lack of match practice cause I don't feel that there is anything wrong with my game right now but unfortunately I also ran into some very good clay court players. I played before in Europe on numerous occasions and I can definitely play on clay."

This week's tennis spotlight will be on Sania Mirza when she makes her long-awaited comeback after wrist surgery at the DFS Classic in Birmingham.

Sunitha Rao made it a double delight with a superb show in the qualifying rounds and a hard-fought main draw victory to join Mirza in the second round. The Indian number one enjoyed a bye in her first match.

Away from the media glare, Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna clashed in the final qualifier round at Surbiton. Bopanna emerged the winner - a sign that perhaps he is once again ready to don the mantle of being India's best men's player, an honour he lost to Amritraj earlier this year.

Harsh Mankad had another disappointment at the Yuba City Challenger, though his 0-6,1-6 loss in the opening round was at least understandable since he was playing the second seed. Also down on his luck is Stephen Amritraj, the lesser known of the two Amritraj cousins, who has been struggling with his doubles game for some time now.

Back problems are also becoming Karan Rastogi's bane and the 21-year-old might find it a challenge just to keep fit.

"I am scheduled to play in Iran in a couple of weeks. But will go only if I am a 100% fit," Rastogi told the Indian Tennis Blog.

On the domestic front, most of the country's second-rung women players are battling it out at a $10,000 tournament in Gurgaon this week.

ATP RANKINGS (9 June 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
282 (-22) Amritraj, Prakash
293 (+17) Bopanna, Rohan
468 (-18) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
481 (-22) Rastogi, Karan
540 (-4) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
13 (-4) Bhupathi, Mahesh
23 (+1) Paes, Leander
52 (-1) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (9 June 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
33 (-1) Mirza, Sania
160 (-5) Rao, Sunitha
310 (-4) Lakhani, Isha
441 (+5) Iyer, Tara
502 (-3) Bhambri, Ankita

DOUBLES
20 (0) Mirza, Sania
120 (-9) Rao, Sunitha
326 (-4) Iyer, Tara

Sandhya Nagaraj, Leander Paes reach semis, others disappoint

May 12 - May 18: Sandhya Nagaraj reaches semis at Badalona, Paes/Robredo make it to last four at Hamburg Masters, Sunitha Rao only Indian hope in French Open singles

SANDHYA NAGARAJ

After several opening round losses in previous weeks, Sandhya Nagaraj made full use of a weak draw at $10,000 ITF Badalona, Spain to reach the semifinals of the claycourt event.

The 19-year-old from Chennai beat three qualifiers along the way before losing to the fourth seed and eventual winner in straight sets.

Nagaraj, ranked as high as 511 on the WTA Tour two years ago, will be hoping to get back into the Top 600 next week.

ITF $10,000 BADALONA, Spain
(12 - 18 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Women's Singles Semifinal
Sandhya Nagaraj lost to (4)Eva Fernandez-Brugues(SPN) 3-6,3-6

LEANDER PAES

Looks like a break from regular partner Paul Hanley did Leander Paes a lot of good. After a string of inexplicable early losses this season, Paes teamed up with Spaniard Tommy Robredo to reach the semifinals of the Hamburg Masters.

The unseeded duo beat third seeds Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram in the second round but fell to second seeds and eventual winners Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zomonjic in the last four (See photo).

Paes later revealed that he will be teaming up with Lukas Dlouhy in the future.


ATP HAMBURG MASTERS
(11 - 18 May 2008)
CLAY COURT
Men's Doubles Semifinal
Leander Paes/Tommy Robredo(SPN) lost to (2)Daniel Nestor(CAN)/Nenad Zimonjic(SRB) 3-6,6-3,2-10

Interestingly, Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles lost their opening encounter for the second straight tournament in a row. Before their disappointments in Rome and Hamburg, Bhupathi and Knowles claimed back-to-back titles at Memphis and Dubai and were losing finalists at Miami and Monte Carlo this season.

SAIL OPEN CHALLENGER

There was also disappointment in store for those hoping for an Indian resurgence in the first of two challenger events in New Delhi. Apart from wildcard Ashutosh Singh, no other Indian (in a draw including the likes of Prakash Amritraj, Harsh Mankad and Yuki Bhambri) made it to the second round.

Ashutosh Singh jumped 38 places on the ATP rankings on Monday and is currently ranked 567.

In doubles, Prakash Amritraj and American Rajeev Ram reached the semifinals while Purav Raja and Rohan Gajjar lost in the other semifinal.

$50,000 SAIL OPEN CHALLENGER, New Delhi
(12 - 17 May 2008)
HARD COURT
Men's Singles Round 2
(WC)Ashutosh Singh lost to Colin Ebelthite(AUS) 4-6,4-6

Two of India's hopes Rohan Bopanna and Karan Rastogi withdrew from the challengers due to injury-related probems - Bopanna with a knee injury and Rastogi with a back problem.

Bopanna, who started a blog last week, achieved a career-high 50 in the ATP doubles rankings on Monday.

THIS WEEK

Tennis action continues at the second men's challenger in New Delhi but with several Indians losing in the first round on Monday, it looks as if this event will also be a no-show.

The Bhambri sisters - Ankita and Sanaa - lead a contingent of Indians at another $10,000 event in Thailand. Last week in Bangkok, Sanaa was the only Indian to reach the singles quarterfinals. The Bhambri sisters also lost in the doubles semifinals.

Navdeep Singh and Rohan Gajjar are trying their luck in the Kuwait F1 Futures in Meshref. Karan Rastogi told the Indian Tennis Blog he'll be hoping to join them at the Kuwait F2 Futures the following week.

The qualifiers at Roland Garros begin on Tuesday with no Indian representative in the men's singles. With Sania Mirza out of action till next month, Sunitha Rao will be the lone Indian hope in the singles events of the French Open.

[Update: Sunitha Rao lost in the first round of the French Open women's singles qualifying at Roland Garros on Wednesday, falling to Kristina Barrois of Canada in three sets -- 6-2,6-7(3),2-6 -- effectively ending India's interest in the singles events at this year's claycourt Grand Slam]

While Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes are serious contenders in the doubles draw with Rohan Bopanna making his Grand Slam debut, Yuki Bhambri is also one of the favourites in the junior events.

On Monday, Sunitha Rao was ranked a career-high 108 in the WTA doubles list while Isha Lakhani achieved a career-high position of 291 in the singles rankings.

ATP RANKINGS (19 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
252 (-3) Amritraj, Prakash
308 (-2) Bopanna, Rohan
436 (-8) Sipaeya, Sunil Kumar
441 (+2) Rastogi, Karan
567 (+38) Singh, Ashutosh

DOUBLES
11 (-1) Bhupathi, Mahesh
24 (+1) Paes, Leander
50 (+1) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (19 May 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
32 (+1) Mirza, Sania
156 (+2) Rao, Sunitha
291 (+4) Lakhani, Isha
399 (-20) Iyer, Tara
485 (+14) Chakravarthi, Rushmi

DOUBLES
18 (+1) Mirza, Sania
108 (+2) Rao, Sunitha
319 (-1) Iyer, Tara

Harsh Mankad returns, Ashutosh Singh proves his mettle

Pakistan may be in the headlines for the wrong reasons but India's National Champion Ashutosh Singh made sure it wasn't all bad news by reaching the final of the ITF Pakistan F3 Futures in Lahore.

Singh lost a tight match 3-6,6-3,7-6(6) to top-seeded Czech Adam Vejmelka in the final but the 25-year-old Indian shouldn't be too disappointed by his performance against a player ranked 240 places above him on the ATP list.

Partnering Vivek Shokeen, Singh had earlier grabbed the doubles title beating Vejmelka and his Romanian partner Bogdan-Victor Leonte 6-1,6-4.

The 575-ranked Singh also leads the Indian contingent for a bilateral tennis series against Pakistan starting in Lahore on Tuesday.

Doubles was the key for India in women's tennis this week with both Sunitha Rao and Prerana Appineni reaching the doubles semifinals at separate ITF events. Second seeds Rao and American Jill Craybas bowed out to an American pair at ITF Pittsburgh while Appineni and American Beatrice Capra lost a thrilling super-tiebreaker in the ITF Lima (Peru) semifinals.

But the big news for India is the return of Harsh Mankad after a year-long break from the tennis court thanks to knee injuries. Currently ranked 1456, Mankad is playing the qualifiers at the ATP Challenger in Champaign, USA.

Mankad turned 28 on Saturday and the Mumbai resident knows only too well how hard it will be for him to crack the ATP Top 200. His career best singles ranking of 222 was a milestone achieved two years ago.

Also playing next week is Indian number one Rohan Bopanna. The 261-ranked Bopanna has the unenviable challenge of playing 75-ranked German Benjamin Becker in the first round of the ATP Challenger in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

At least doubles specialist Leander Paes has better odds despite a spate of opening round defeats recently. Fourth seeds Paes and Czech partner Martin Damm will fancy their chances at the Shanghai Masters Cup when they take on defending champions Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi on Sunday.

In women's tennis, India's number two Sunitha Rao will try her luck at the ITF $50,000 La Quinta, US tournament while Tara Iyer will lead a phalanx of fellow Indians at the $25,000 ITF Pune tournament. Both events kick off on Monday.

Can Paes and Damm win the Tennis Masters Cup?
	Yes - these defeats will make them hungry for victory
	No - they have lost their magic
	Depends on luck
pollcode.com free polls

Shanghai beckons but no luck for Paes at Paris

I had been away for two days and got to know the news late - Leander Paes and Martin Damm have secured berths in next month's Tennis Masters Cup.

But the duo, currently at number five in the ATP Doubles Race, will not be fancying their chances at Shanghai, bogged down as they are by a string of opening round defeats in recent matches.

The newly qualified Masters Cup pair bowed out of the BNP Paribas Masters in the first round on Monday.

Their conquerors Jeff Coetzee of South Africa and Dutchman Rogier Wassen prevailed 11-9 in the super-tiebreaker after the teams split the first two sets 6-3 and 6-7(3).

Paes, who won the Paris Masters in 1998 with Mahesh Bhupathi, and Damm frittered away matchpoints in the second set as well as in the super-tiebreaker.

Stephen Amritraj, Ashutosh Singh shine this week

The big names of Indian tennis couldn't weave much magic in tournaments this week, leaving little known players Stephen Amritraj and Ashutosh Singh to impress with breakthrough performances.

Amritraj, who grew up in the Californian city of Calabasas, partnered American Adam Davidson to reach the doubles semifinal at the ATP Calabasas Challenger.

The duo, who gained entry as lucky losers because of an injury default to Jan-Michael Gambill, stunned top seeds Bobby Reynolds and Rajeev Ram 6-3,6-4 in the opening round.

Amritraj, 23, and Davidson eventually lost 5-7,2-6 to fourth seeds Robert Kendrick(US) and Cecil Mamiit(PHI) in the semifinal.

Stephen, son of former tennis player Anand Amritraj, had partnered cousin Prakash to reach the semifinals of the Fergana Challenger earlier this year.

Back home in India, newly crowned National hard court champion Ashutosh Singh spearheaded the country's challenge at the India F9 Futures in Bellary, Karnataka.

Singh's splendid run in the singles event, which began with ousting top seed Pavol Cervenak of Slovakia 6-3,6-4 in the opening round, came to an end in the semifinals.

Singh, ranked 659 on the ATP list, lost to third seeded Austrian Rainer Eitzinger 4-6,3-6.

But he gained revenge by partnering Vivek Shokeen (in pic) to beat Eitzinger and Philipp Oswald 7-6(4),3-6,10-5 in the doubles final.

Wildcard Rupesh Roy, who lost in the quarterfinals to Singh, also impressed with a second round win over Romania's Adrian Gavrila.

Elsewhere in Europe, Sania Mirza lost in her Zurich Open opener before retiring for the season while Leander Paes and Martin Damm lost in the second round of the Madrid Masters doubles.

Sunitha Rao, who reached the finals at the ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic last week, withdrew from the ITF Lawrenceville Challenger at the last minute.

Down under in Gympie(Australia), Tara Iyer couldn't do much against fourth seeded home favourite Monique Adamczak and lost 1-6,6-7(5) in the first round.

Partnering Nungnudda Wannasuk of Thailand, Iyer also lost to Adamczak and Briton Jade Curtis 7-6(2),6-7(3),5-10 in the doubles quarterfinal.

Sunitha Rao falls at final hurdle in San Francisco

A brilliant run in the $50,000 ITF San Francisco Tennis Classic ended with defeat in the final for India's Sunitha Rao. The eighth seed couldn't keep the magic going against top seeded American Ashley Harkleroad and went down tamely 6-1, 6-2.

The loss was a disappointing one for Rao but it was still her best result for 2007 - gaining her $3,990 in prizemoney and 25 valuable WTA points. Her latest ranking shot ten places up to 175 and Rao is now within striking distance of her career-best ranking of 152 (achieved in July 2003).

The Florida-based player had started the year ranked 232 and had dipped as low as 278 in June before jumping 100 places in just four months. Rao had also been the losing finalist in a $25,000 ITF event at Tampa in July.

The San Francisco result had not been an unexpected one. Harkleroad, although now ranked just 92, is a former Top 40 player and not one to be taken lightly. Interestingly, Rao had won their previous encounter in the 2003 Australian Open qualifiers, albeit in three sets.

Rao, who will celebrate her 22nd birthday on October 27, also had luck on her side - she didn't face anybody ranked higher than her in the four matches till the final.

In the latest WTA rankings (October 15), Rao led an army of Indian women moving up the list. Tara Iyer moved one place up to 358, Rushmi Chakravarthi gained two places to be ranked 368 and Isha Lakhani moved up three spots to 432.

But Indian number one Sania Mirza dropped one spot to 30, thanks to a first round exit at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

In the doubles, Mirza moved up one spot to 19, while Rao lost three places to be placed 141. The biggest loser of the week was Shikha Uberoi - who slid 43 places to 209.

Rohan Bopanna, the best Indian player in the men's singles, was down nine places (260) while Prakash Amritraj slid two spots (270). The big gainer - no. 343 Karan Rastogi who moved up four places.

In the doubles rankings, Bopanna's semifinal run at ATP Stockholm saw him jump seven places to 79 while Leander Paes(17) and Mahesh Bhupathi(21) retained their spots on the list.

Middle-level Indian players have a chance to earn valuable points at the men's $15,000 India F9 Futures event at Bellary, Karnataka which kicked off on Monday.

Can Sunitha Rao ever match Sania Mirza's achievements?
	Yes - the way she's playing, anything is possible
	No - Rao doesn't have what it takes
	Can't say - we'll have to watch her in 2008
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Paes, Bopanna and Sunitha Rao impress this week

It's been a reasonably good week for Indian tennis but not for Sania Mirza. India's number one singles player floundered in the opening round of the Kremlin Cup - falling to nemesis Gisela Dulko in her third straight carrer defeat to the Argentine.

Her luck in the doubles was only marginally better. Partnering Switzerland's Patty Schnyder, Mirza was ousted by the world's best doubles pair - Cara Black and Liezel Huber - in the quarterfinals.

Be that as it may, ATP Tour veteran Justin Gimelstob had this to say about the 20-year-old in his SI.com column this week.

"Mirza has ignited a continent with her success. She is a cult figure in her native India, and can't walk down the street without a full security detail. She possesses one of the biggest forehands in the game, and is attractive and charming. She's also integral to growing the game in the Far East."

As such the flag for Indian tennis was held high by Leander Paes. Just weeks before he ends his partnership with Martin Damm, the dynamic duo reached the semifinals of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy tournament in Vienna.

Paes and Damm even had two matchpoints before the fourth seeded Polish pair of Marciusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski advanced to the final with a 2-6, 7-5, 12-10 win.

Paes would be partnering Paul Hanley of Australia in 2008 and his reasons for splitting with Damm are purely professional.

"We have different goals next year...Martin wants to cut down on his tennis, while I want to play a full year, so we decided to get new partners," Paes told The Telegraph from Vienna.

Also impressive this week was Rohan Bopanna whose semifinal appearance with Belgium's Olivier Rochus at the ATP Stockholm Open is further proof he's going to make it big in doubles. His stint as lucky loser in the singles draw had ended after he squandered a 4-1 lead to lose in straight sets to Spain's Albert Montanes in the first round. But Bopanna made good in the doubles with a win over South Africa's Jeff Coetzee and Dutchman Rogier Wassen.

It was only in the semis that second seeds Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi got the better of the Indo-Belgian pair in straight sets - 6-3, 7-5.

On the ITF circuit, Sunitha Rao has made the quarterfinals of the $50,000 San Francisco event. Her match against Indonesia's Romana Tedjakusuma wasn't over when this report was filed but there's a good chance the eighth seed will get through easily to the semis. Rao had routed Tedjakusuma in straight sets at a $25,000 tournament in Tampa, USA earlier this year.

Top seeds Rao and American Julie Ditty stumbled in their doubles opener - falling to an unseeded pair from South Africa.

Down Under in Rockhamption, eighth seed Tara Iyer made it to the second round before qualifier Robin Stephenson proved too strong for the Indian on the Australian hardcourts.

In domestic action, Bellary in Karnataka will play host to the $15,000 India F9 Futures event next week with most of India's top singles players in attendance.

Leander Paes makes winning return to ATP Tour

Doubles specialist Leander Paes teamed up with regular partner Martin Damm of the Czech Republic to beat Agustin Calleri of Argentina and Andreas Seppi of Italy in the first round of the BA-CA Tennis Trophy in Vienna.

Playing their first match since the defending champions were ousted in their US Open opener in August, second seeds Paes and Damm took nearly an hour-and-a-half to subdue their opponents 4-6, 6-2, 10-7.

Awaiting them in the quarterfinals is the American duo of Mardy Fish and Robby Ginepri.

Paes has been absent from the tennis scene for more than a month. He skipped the Kingfisher Airlines Open in Mumbai, ostensibly to play in Bangkok with Jamie Murray but the duo never showed up in Thailand. The two were also to play doubles as a pair in Tokyo last week but that didn't happen either.

Arguably the best Indian doubles player ever, Paes has been at loggerheads with former partner Mahesh Bhupathi (probably the real reason for bypassing ATP Mumbai - a tournament promoted by Bhupathi's company).

Paes, 34 will quit playing with Damm at the end of this season and is slated to team up with Australian Paul Hanley in 2008.

A good performance at Vienna should help Paes and Damm garner enough points to qualify for the season-ending Masters Cup in Shanghai. The duo are currently in fourth place in the ATP Doubles Race.

Mumbai misses Indians at Kingfisher Open

It took four rain-hit days to complete first round matches at the Kingfisher Airlines Tennis Open but when the roll call was taken, no Indians were left in the singles draw.

There's not going to be any consolation from doubles either. Mahesh Bhupathi, who claimed the inaugural title in 2006 with Mario Ancic, pulled out before his opening round doubles match with what appears to be a bad back.

Wildcard Rohan Bopanna, at 244 the highest ranked Indian in singles, was our best hope and he almost made it. But it was Frenchman Nicolas Devilder who prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11-9) after saving three matchpoints.

NCAA champion Somdev Dev Varman, the other Indian wildcard in the draw, actually led 5-4 in the second set against Italian Fabio Fognini but had to settle for a 3-6, 6-7(8-10) loss at the $416,000 ATP event.

In a battle of qualifiers, Navdeep Singh couldn't find anything to break Toshihide Matsui's rhythm and lost 4-6, 6-7(6-8) to the Japanese player.

And lucky loser Purav Raja couldn't make much of a second chance, falling 4-6, 1-6 to Spain's Ivan Navarro.

Raja and Vivek Shokeen are playing doubles too, but as last-minute replacements for Bhupathi and France's Fabrice Santoro and no miracles are expected from them.

Last year's surprise finalists Bopanna and Ghouse also survive in the doubles event though with different partners - Bopanna with Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Ghouse with Karan Rastogi.

But the question on everybody's minds is the whereabouts of Leander Paes. The doubles specialist skipped the Mumbai event apparently because of his tiff with Bhupathi. But he and Britain's Jamie Murray are also missing in action at the ATP Bangkok event, where they were supposed to be playing this week.

Update: Ghouse and Rastogi lost to the British pair of James Auckland and Ross Hutchins 2-6, 6-3, 3-10 in a first round match on Centre Court that lasted an hour and 14 minutes.

Update 2: Bopanna and Qureshi have advanced to the doubles semifinals thanks to a walkover over Ivan Navarro of Spain and Sergio Roitman of Argentina. Roitman withdrew with an elbow injury in the quarterfinals.

Raja and Shokeen, the only other Indian pair still in the fray, lost their first round match in straight sets 3-6, 2-6 to the Serbian duo of Boris Pashanski and Victor Troicki.

Will Bopanna and Qureshi win the doubles title?
	Yes - Bopanna was a finalist at ATP Mumbai last year
	No - Luck favoured them so far, not any more
	Can't say - all depends on who they play next
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How India fared at the US Open

It was so near, yet so far. Doubles ace Leander Paes might have been hoping to get his hands on a US Open trophy for the second year running. So what if he and Martin Damm, the defending champions, crashed out in the opening round of the men's doubles.

Partnering Meghann Shaughnessy, Paes raised Indian hopes by storming into the mixed doubles final. But it was not to be. The Belarussian pair of Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi proved too good, carving out a 6-4, 7-6 victory after saving four straight setpoints in the second set tiebreaker.

Azarenka and Mirnyi had also accounted for Sania Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi in the quarter-finals, rolling out a 6-4, 6-1 win.

Bhupathi and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic didn't fare well in the men's doubles either, losing to a pair of home-crowd favourites in the second round.

Mirza's singles campaign may have ended with a loss to eventual semi-finalist Anna Chakvetadze in the third round but she sparkled in the women's doubles -- reaching the quarter-finals with Bethanie Mattek. A hard-fought win over second seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur would have done enough to boost her confidence as a doubles player.

India's campaign in the junior events faltered at the first hurdle - with Poojashree Venkatesh losing both in the singles and doubles. And 15-year-old Yuki Bhambri may have to wait some years before becoming India's next tennis great - he failed to make it to the main draw of the boy's singles.

The Sania Mirza-Anna Chakvetadze background

A win over buddy Anna Chakvetadze will catapult Sania Mirza into the fourth round - matching her best showing at the US Open two years ago.

But it won't be easy beating the world number six. Chakvetadze sizzled during the American hardcourt season and thrashed the Indian on her way to the Cincinnati and Stanford titles. Head to head, the record stands 3-0 in the Russian's favour.

Mirza's wins over less talented players in the first two rounds were strewn with unforced errors - something Chakvetadze will be all too eager to take advantage of.

Plus with an exceptional serve, superior groundstrokes and a reliable backhand, the Russian has what it takes to counter Mirza's one strength - the forehand.

UPDATE: CHAKVETADZE BEATS MIRZA 6-2, 6-3

Chakvetadze has always done well at New York, having reached the fourth round last year and the third round in 2004 and 2005. This year, her best on the tour so far, the 20-year-old blonde from Moscow will be hoping to make it all the way to the final four.

Does Mirza, the first Indian woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam, have what it takes to beat her former junior doubles partner? Or should fans hope for a miracle.

Here's tennis expert Matt Cronin's prediction for today's match -

"Mirza cannot afford to play long points with Chakvetadze, who is excellent at pulling her out of position and either forcing an error or smoking a winner. She has to go straight at the Russian's body with her hammer forehand in order to get Chakvetadze to stand still once in while, because the Russian is deadly on the run. Most importantly, she has to serve very well, because while Mirza has improved her movement, backhand and on court composure, her serve is still a weakness. If she zones on her forehand, Mirza could pull an upset here, but the intelligent Chakvetadze will find a way around her and triumph in three sets."

Well, if Indian hopes are dashed in singles, there might be some hope in the doubles events.

DOUBLE DELIGHT IN DOUBLES

Mirza and Mahesh Bhupathi trounced seventh seeds Elena Likhovtseva and Daniel Nestor in straight sets 6-0, 6-2 to advance to the second round of the mixed doubles. Next up for the Indian duo are American Bob Bryan and France's Tatiana Golovin.

Also fighting for a place in the quarterfinals are Leander Paes and American Meghann Shaughnessy. They are up against fifth seeded Czech duo Martin Damm (Paes' regular men's doubles partner) and Kveta Peschke.

In the women's doubles, Mirza and American Bethanie Mattek, seeded 16, have reached the third round after rushing past Jarmila Gajdosova and Bryanne Stewart 6-2, 6-2.

And in the men's doubles, sixth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and his Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic wll have the tough task of facing home crowd favourites Sam Querrey and Robert Kendrick for a place in the third round.

Paes crashes out of US Open men's doubles

Defending champions and fourth seeds Leander Paes and Martin Damm crashed out in the opening round of the men's doubles at the US Open.

The Indo-Czech duo were humbled 7-6(7-1),3-6,4-6 by unseeded Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut.

Compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi had better luck. He and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic, seeded sixth here, got past Russia's Igor Kunitsyn and Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets 6-3,7-5.

Bhupathi and Zimonjic, fresh from their victory at the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven, will now run into unseeded Americans Robert Kendrick and Sam Querrey.

UPDATE: CHAKVETADZE BEATS MIRZA 6-2, 6-3

Just hours after her second round win over Laura Granville, Sania Mirza was back on court to help American Bethanie Mattek defeat Serbia's Jelena Jankovic and France's Severine Bremond in the first round of the women's doubles. The number 16 seeds prevailed 6-2,6-2, making it a good day for the 20-year-old Indian.

Paes still had reason to stay back in New York. In an evening match, he partnered American Meghann Shaughnessy to beat Pavel Vizner of the Czech Republic and Janette Husarova of Slovakia in their mixed doubles opener. The unseeded pair won 7-5, 6-3, earning them a meeting with fifth seeded Czech duo Martin Damm and Kveta Peschke in the second round.

ALSO READ
Mirza beats Granville in second round
Leander Paes to pair up with Jamie Murray

Who should Paes pair up with?
	Martin Damm
	Mahesh Bhupathi
	Jamie Murray
	David Rikl
	Rohan Bopanna
	Nenad Zimonjic
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Leander Paes to pair up with Jamie Murray

Doubles specialist Leander Paes has asked British player Jamie Murray to pair up with him in at least two ATP tournaments following the US Open.

Paes and Martin Damm of the Czech Republic are the defending champions at the year's final Grand Slam in New York and are seeded fourth in the men's doubles.

Jamie, the older brother of Britain's number one Andy Murray, is an accomplished doubles player in his own right having won three tournaments this season in partnership with American Eric Butorac.

Murray will now pair up with world number eight Paes for ATP tournaments in Bangkok (September) and Tokyo (October).

"I have a talent for spotting something special in people," Paes was quoted as saying by The Times. "I spotted it a year ago when he was relatively unknown. It's that X-factor thing."

Paes should know. He and Mahesh Bhupathi were one of the best doubles pairs ever and even after their infamous split the Indian duo have won several titles in partnership with other players.

Interestingly, even Bhupathi has played with Murray this year, teaming up with the world no. 28 in the Cincinnati Masters where they lost to the world's best pair - Bob and Mike Bryan - in the second round.

Murray told The Times Paes had approached him several times.

"I didn't think about it too much because I was playing with Booty (Butorac) and we were playing well. He kept asking me and I thought, 'It's a great opportunity to try and play with someone like that.'"

But Murray's regular partner Butorac, who is playing with the 21-year-old Scot at the US Open, didn't sound too happy about the new pairing.

"Paes is 34. It might be fun to play a couple of tournaments with him, but in a year or two I'm probably going to be the better player," Butorac told the paper. "I hope Jamie realises that."

Who should Paes pair up with?
	Martin Damm
	Mahesh Bhupathi
	Jamie Murray
	David Rikl
	Rohan Bopanna
	Nenad Zimonjic
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Watch out for Sania Mirza at US Open

That's tennis writer Peter Bodo's prediction on ESPN - Sania Mirza is on his list of players likely to make a splash at the 2007 US Open.

With action starting today at Flushing Meadows, Bodo points out that "Mirza has shown signs of maturity that her game has sorely lacked, and she likes this surface."

The number 26 seed also carries the heavy burden of being India's only representative in the singles events.

UPDATE: CHAKVETADZE BEATS MIRZA 6-2, 6-3

She's in great form though and currently enjoys her highest ever career ranking - 27 (in singles) and 20 (in doubles).

Mirza begins her US Open campaign on Tuesday with a 4-2 win-loss record at the Grand Slam, already looking ahead to a possible third round clash with the in-form Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

Will Mirza repeat her dream run of 2005, when she lost in the fourth round to top seed Maria Sharapova?

Well, her doubles victory at the Pilot Pen tournament over the weekend should keep her spirits up. After all, Mirza and Italy's Mara Santangelo beat the best women's pair of 2007 - Cara Black and Liezel Huber - in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.

At the US Open, Mirza will be partnering American Bethanie Mattek in the women's doubles. The number 16 seeds face the unseeded pair of Jelena Jankovic and Severine Bremond in the first round. But their real test lies in a possible encounter with second seeds Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur in the third round. Mirza and Israel's Shahar Peer had lost to the duo at the same stage at Wimbledon.

In the mixed doubles, Mirza is partnering doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi, who's won the event twice before - with Ai Sugiyama in 1999 and Daniela Hantuchova in 2005.

India can also hope for good results from Bhupathi and Leander Paes in the men's doubles. Both have won it in the past though with different partners - Bhupathi with Max Mirnyi in 2002 and Paes with Martin Damm last year.

This year, Bhupathi and Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic, fresh from their victory at the Pilot Pen tournament, are seeded sixth and could run into defending champions and fourth seeds Paes and Damm in the quarter-finals.

Both Bhupathi and Paes haven't won a Grand Slam title this year and would be eager to finish the year on a high.

However, Indian fans would be disappointed that Rohan Bopanna won't be playing in the men's doubles. Bopanna, who along with Pakistan's Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi notched up four straight ATP doubles titles this season, could not qualify for a place in the doubles draw. The 27-year-old player is now ranked 87 in doubles, having jumped 40 places on the ATP list in the last two months.

Earlier this week, Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj crashed out in the qualifying rounds for the men's singles while Sunitha Rao came agonisingly close to joining Mirza in the women's singles draw.

FORUM: Should Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi get back together?

It's been ages since the 'Indian Express' broke up and India's medal prospects at the 2008 Beijing Olympics look pretty bleak if Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi don't team up.

Should the two players patch things up for a shot at Olympic gold or should Bhupathi fancy his chances with rising star Rohan Bopanna? Have your say.

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