Tennis Briefs - Security tight for Chennai Open

Reuters, NEW DELHI: Security will be tightened ahead of next week's Chennai Open ATP tennis tournament following the militant attacks in Mumbai, a tournament official said on Monday. For more, click here

The Hindu, HYDERABAD: Ace tennis player Sania Mirza conducted a coaching camp organised by corporate giant GVK Group here on Saturday. For more, click here

The Telegraph, KOLKATA: Indian tennis ace Leander Paes hopes that the next year will be a great one for him in the doubles circuit saying that the indications were already there. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Sports Ministry's decision to bar athletes with foreign passports from representing the country in international events contradicts the government policy on People of Indian Origin and hence should be reconsidered, Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Shukla said here today. For more, click here

ATP RANKINGS (29 December 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
204 (0) Devvarman, Somdev
210 (0) Amritraj, Prakash
333 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
6 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
10 (0) Paes, Leander
78 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (29 December 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
101 (0) Mirza, Sania
197 (0) Rao, Sunitha
365 (-3) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
61 (0) Mirza, Sania
221 (0) Rao, Sunitha
312 (+26) Uberoi, Shikha

Tennis Briefs - Somdev Devvarman training with Andy Roddick

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Indian Davis Cupper Somdev Devvarman is capping an eventful year with a 10-day training stint with American world number eight Andy Roddick. For more, click here

The Hindu, BANGALORE: Mahesh Bhupathi is hungry for more, now that he has clicked in a big way with his new partner, Mark Knowles of Bahamas in the 2008 season. For more, click here

The Times of India, BANGALORE: Sania Mirza, who until three months ago was struggling to grip a glass of water in her right hand, is back to striking her dreaded forehand with military firepower. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, KOLKATA: Indian tennis ace Leander Paes has been elected as one of the seven vice-presidents of Bengal Tennis Association (BTA). For more, click here

ATP RANKINGS (8 December 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
204 (+1) Devvarman, Somdev
211 (0) Amritraj, Prakash
332 (-13) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
6 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
10 (0) Paes, Leander
78 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (8 December 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
101 (0) Mirza, Sania
199 (+1) Rao, Sunitha
341 (+1) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
61 (0) Mirza, Sania
219 (+1) Rao, Sunitha

Tennis Briefs - Somdev Devvarman, Prakash Amritraj get wildcards for Chennai Open

The Times of India, MUMBAI: These are good times for Somdev Devvarman. Following his success of becoming the highest ranked Indian (201) on the ATP Tour, the 23-year-old has been given a wildcard for the singles main draw of the $450,000 Chennai Open. For more, click here

The Hindu, CHENNAI: IOCL's Rohan Bopanna served his way to the PSPB inter-unit tennis title, defeating defending champion Sunil Kumar Sipaya (IOCL) 6-4, 6-4 in the final at the SDAT Nungambakkam Stadium on Friday. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Indian junior tennis team remained unconquered to win gold medal at the inaugural Junior South Asian Tennis Championship, which concluded in Dhaka, Bangladesh recently. For more, click here

ATP RANKINGS (17 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
204 (-3) Devvarman, Somdev
210 (+4) Amritraj, Prakash
314 (+6) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
6 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
10 (0) Paes, Leander
67 (-6) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (17 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
99 (0) Mirza, Sania
205 (+1) Rao, Sunitha
298 (-6) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
61 (0) Mirza, Sania
227 (+2) Rao, Sunitha

Tennis Briefs - Somdev Devvarman loses in Nashville final

Indo-Asian News Service, NEW DELHI: India's Somdev Devvarman fought hard but could not stop local favourite Robert Kendrick from winning the $75,000 ATP Challenger in Nashville, US. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, PUNE: Somdev Devvarman, country's newly-crowned number one singles player, will spearhead the Indian challenge at USD 1,00,000 Asia Cup -- a team event restricted only for Asian players -- to be held here from December 27. For more, click here

ATP RANKINGS (10 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
201 (+40) Devvarman, Somdev
214 (-1) Amritraj, Prakash
320 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
6 (0) Bhupathi, Mahesh
10 (0) Paes, Leander
61 (+1) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (10 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
99 (0) Mirza, Sania
206 (0) Rao, Sunitha
292 (0) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
61 (+1) Mirza, Sania
229 (-25) Rao, Sunitha

Tennis Briefs - Paes, Bhupathi to take part in 2009 Chennai Open

The Hindu, CHENNAI: Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes confirmed on Monday that they would participate -- with their partners -- in the Chennai Open next year. For more, click here

Courier-Journal, LOUISVILLE: Prakash Amritraj and Jesse Levine defeated Frank Dancevic and Dusan Vemic 6-3, 7-6 (12-10) in the doubles final at the Ford Tennis Championships. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Yuki Bhambri stamped his authority in the Asia/Oceania zone by wining both the singles and doubles titles in the junior closed championship, which concluded in Indonesia on Sunday. For more, click here

ATP RANKINGS (3 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
213 (+1) Amritraj, Prakash
241 (-1) Devvarman, Somdev
320 (+3) Bopanna, Rohan

DOUBLES
6 (+1) Bhupathi, Mahesh
10 (-2) Paes, Leander
62 (0) Bopanna, Rohan

WTA RANKINGS (3 November 2008)
(in brackets - positions lost/gained since last week)
SINGLES
99 (-2) Mirza, Sania
206 (0) Rao, Sunitha
292 (+27) Lakhani, Isha

DOUBLES
62 (0) Mirza, Sania
204 (-45) Rao, Sunitha

Tennis Briefs - Ratnika Batra wins women's National title

The Hindu, NEW DELHI: Ratnika Batra bounced back from an indifferent start to outplay Shweta Chandra Rana 6-3, 6-0 in the final of the DSCL National women's tennis championship at the DLTA Complex here on Saturday. For more, click here.

The Press Trust of India, MUMBAI: A bunch of players aged 45 and above, including former national-ranking singles players Mayur Vasant and Chetan Desai, will be seen in action in the GVK AISTA senior National Ranking Tennis tournament to be held at the Practennis courts in Andheri next month. For more, click here

Tennis Briefs - Bhupathi/Knowles qualify for ATP Tennis Masters Cup

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Indian ace Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles's final appearance at last week's Madrid Masters has booked the duo a berth in the season-ending prestigious Tennis Masters Cup to be held in Shanghai next month. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Forced to stay away from courts for almost half the season, a fit again Sania Mirza is eyeing a comeback at January's Classic tennis tournament in Hong Kong and revealed that she almost sunk into depression while struggling to recover from a wrist injury. For more, click here

The Times of India, BANGALORE: Sania Mirza is back on the tennis court, cracking forehands - pain free. Only two months ago, scenes of the big-hitting 21-year-old making a premature exit from the Olympic Games in a pool of tears were flashed from Beijing. Sania was frustrated as much by the physical pain as with the hopelessness of her situation. For more, click here

The Press Trust of India, NEW DELHI: Apollo Tyres on Tuesday reiterated that it would not show the details of its spending on the 'Mission 2018' project to anyone but refuted suggestions that the company was trying to take control of tennis in India. For more, click here

Junior Davis Cup: India beat Brazil 2-1

(Match report from aitatennis.com)

JUNIOR DAVIS CUP (Under 16) GROUP D
(2)INDIA beat BRAZIL 2-1
SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico, Sept. 25: India justified its seeding with its win over Brazil, the Indian boys creating history to reach the semifinals. India topped Group D and meets 3rd seeded USA which topped Group C.

Both Saurabh and Yuki played excellent tennis to win their matches in spite of having lost the 1st set in their matches.

In the first singles, Saurabh had 2 break points on Henrique's serve in the 5th and 9th game but could not avail the opportunities. In the 10th game, Saurabh was serving 40-15, but with a missed drop shot and a double fault Saurabh lost the first set 4-6.

In the second set, Saurabh broke Henrique in the 3rd game and again broke in the 7th game. With 2 breaks in hand Saurabh was in command to take the set 6-2.

In the 3rd set, Saurabh broke Henrique in the 3rd, 5th and 7th game to wrap the set by 6-1.

2nd singles: Yuki started with a bang by breaking the Brazilian in the 1st game but could not retain his 1st serve. Both players were playing excellent tennis, Clezar hitting very deep and solid from base line ground strokes did not allow Yuki to make any variations and he broke Yuki in the 6th game and won the 1st set by 6-3.

In the second set Yuki was confident and mixed up his game with surprise drop shots and heavy top spin on opponent's backhand and played at net and did not allow Clezar to get his rhythm and broke his serves in the 4th and 6th game to win the set by 6-1.

In the 3rd set, Clezar was depressed with his game and Yuki broke him in the 1st game, with another break in the 5th game, Yuki was in command and produced excellent strokes to win the set and match by 6-1 and this led India going to semifinals probably for the first time.

In the doubles match, India was represented by Saurabh Singh and SV Abhishek to play with Brazilians and fought very well, Indian pair was leading 5-3 in the 1st set but Saurabh could not hold his serve to take the set and the Brazilian pair recovered soon to win the set in tie breaker.

The second set was again interesting but the Indian combination was not good enough to match the consistent Brazilian pair and lost the set again in a tie-breaker.

India plays semifinals with USA which has a very balanced team with ITF ranking 112 Evan King and Denis Kudla at 138. It is going to be an interesting tie and Indian players are confident to give their best tomorrow.

RESULTS
Saurabh Singh beat Henrique Tsukamoto 4-6,6-2,6-1
Yuki Bhambri beat Guilherme Clezar 3-6,6-1,6-1
Saurabh Singh/Abhishek Sakleshpu Venkata lost to Henrique Tsukamoto/Tiago Fernandes 6-7(6),6-7(5)

Junior Davis Cup: India beat Great Britain 2-1

(Match report from aitatennis.com)

JUNIOR DAVIS CUP (Under 16) GROUP D
(2)INDIA beat (8)GREAT BRITAIN 2-1
SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico, Sept. 24-25: Yuki Bhambri once again played the role of a saviour as he won both his singles and doubles matches to help India beat Great Britain 2-1 in the rain-interrupted Group D league match in the Junior Davis Cup finals.

The Indian team, aiming for its first Davis Cup crown, is now one win away from booking a berth in the semifinals.

It must beat Brazil in the next league match to make the last four grade.

The Indian team of Yuki and Saurabh Singh beat Ashley Hewitt and George Morgan 6-4,7-6 to seal the tie, which was locked 1-1 after the singles matches.

The doubles match had been stopped due to heavy rains when the Indian pair was trailing 5-6 in the second set.

Yuki trounced James Marsalek 6-1, 6-0 in the second singles to bring India back in the tie after Saurabh had lost the opening singles to Ashley Hewitt 4-6,7-6(5),4-6.

RESULTS
Saurabh Singh lost to Ashley Hewitt 4-6,7-6(5),4-6
Yuki Bhambri beat James Marsalek 6-1,6-0
Yuki Bhambri/Saurabh Singh beat Ashley Hewitt/George Morgan 6-4,7-6(6)

Junior Davis Cup: India beat Mexico 2-1

(Match report from aitatennis.com)

JUNIOR DAVIS CUP (Under 16) GROUP D
(2)INDIA beat MEXICO 2-1
SAN LUIS POTOSI, Mexico, Sept. 23: In the first match, Saurabh Singh started with conviction and broke his opponent in the 2nd game, takes a lead 2-0 early.

After that he lost the momentum and nothing worked for him after that, he was not been able to hit the ball with confidence. Alexis took the advantage of his low confidence and never allowed him to equal the deficit. Which cost him the match and India was down 0-1.

In the second singles match, Yuki was broken in the first game and it seemed that he will not recover from it, but quickly the pendulum swung in India's favour as he broke back his opponent.

Yuki could not hold his serve again and went down 1-4, he was adjusting to the court conditions and produced good backhands and serves and took the set 7-5, after that it was no looking back for him and he won his match easily. Which bring back India in the race with 1-1.

Everything was depending now on the doubles match, and the supporters for India were hoping that they will win.

As expected, Indian boys dominated from the beginning and won the set 6-1, It was looking that both Yuki/Saurabh were desperate to win it and they proved it by winning eight games without a break in serve.

In the ninth game they were down 0-40, but they managed to get all the three points and managed to deuce and then won it, In the 10th game Yuki's started to serve to win for the match, but a 40-30 he missed the opportunity to finish up the things and held in deuce, but that was just the matter of time and finally he managed to win points with serving big. India won 2-1 over the Mexicans.

India will play the loser of the match between Brazil and Great Britain.

RESULTS
Saurabh Singh lost to Alexis Carlos 4-6,2-6
Yuki Bhambri beat Fernando Larrea 7-5,6-1
Yuki Bhambri/Saurabh Singh beat Alexis Carlos/Daniel Fernandez 6-1,6-4

(Official Photo by Sergio Llamera)

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)

Somdev Devvarman in Davis Cup spotlight

It may be the biggest test yet of his fledgling tennis career but Somdev Devvarman is oozing confidence ahead of India's crucial Davis Cup World Group playoff tie against Romania this weekend.

The 23-year-old Devvarman, India's next big tennis hope, told the Indian Tennis Blog he hoped to give the tie his best shot.

On the eve of the Davis Cup tie against Romania, how confident do you feel of India's victory?
I feel like India is very prepared for this tie. We are all playing good tennis right now and we're looking forward to some great matches this weekend.

Do you feel you are in the best form possible for this tie?
I definitely feel like I'm playing some great tennis right now. I wouldn't say my best yet but let's hope it comes out when I really need it this weekend.

Prajnesh Gunneswaran sets sights on ATP Top 100

And this Chennai lad may soon get there, given how much Prajnesh Gunneswaran has gained from stints at the Spain Tennis Academy in Barcelona under the tutelage of Jonathan Stubbs.

The 18-year-old made tennis fans happy by making it to the semifinals of the $15,000 Futures event in New Delhi last week, the only Indian to do so.

Bigger names like Sunil Kumar Sipaeya had fallen by the wayside. And Gunneswaran himself accounted for Ashutosh Singh in the opening round.

It was sweet revenge -- Singh had prevailed in the final of the DSCL National Tennis Championship last year. Giant-killing Gunneswaran had been the surprise finalist then but consoled himself with a title in the Under-18 event.

This time around, Gunneswaran overpowered Singh in three tight sets and went on to beat second seed Yuichi Sugita of Japan in the quarterfinal. He did come unstuck against Pakistan's Aqeel Khan in the semis but by then his performance had brought him in the limelight.

"The mental aspect is very important for me as I have enough standard to play at a much higher standard than my ranking suggests," Gunneswaran told the Indian Tennis Blog before flying back to Spain.

"But some things let me down like my tactical indiscipline and impatience."

They are flaws Gunneswaran is working on in his quest to crack the ATP Top 100, a goal he thinks he can achieve "within the next couple of years".

The 18-year-old is currently ranked 1303 on the ATP list but will move closer to the Top 1000 when the rankings are updated on Monday.

Gunneswaran has had an amazing run over the past two months - a Futures quarterfinal in Spain (after three qualifying round wins), a win at the Catalan Federation Men's Open (see pic and video) and the Futures semis in New Delhi.

Dreams of a hometown win at the Chennai Futures in early September were shattered with a straight-set opening round loss to second seed Alexey Kedryuk of Kazakhstan, but Gunneswaran was happy he gave it his best shot.

"It was only one break each set and I had chances to break too. Kedryuk is much more experienced than me and he showed that by winning the big points," he said.

"I was happy to bounce back from that and do well in Delhi."

Up next for Gunneswaran are three Spain Futures events in successive weeks, starting with the one in Barcelona on October 6.

VIDEO: Watch Gunneswaran in action

$15,000 INDIA F7 FUTURES, New Delhi
(September 8 - 14, 2008)
HARD COURT
Men's Singles Semifinal
Prajnesh Gunneswaran lost to (7)Aqeel Khan(PAK) 3-6,2-6
Quarterfinal
beat (2)Yuichi Sugita(JPN) 7-6(4),6-4
Round 2
beat (WC)Ronak Manuja 6-4,6-2
Round 1
beat (5)Ashutosh Singh 7-6(5),4-6,7-6(7)

U.S. Open Interview - Leander Paes and Cara Black

(Transcribed interview with 2008 Mixed Doubles champions Leander Paes and Cara Black from the U.S. Open website)

Congratulations to both of you. Just one after the other, tell me how you felt. Tell me how you saved a few set points in the first set.
CARA BLACK: Yeah, it was really tough today. It was tough for me coming out to play against Liezel, I think that was really tough, but, you know, Leander was so good with me, and he was just calmed me a lot, and, you know, said he's got my back at all times, and there was nothing better for him to have said. So that was great.


Leander, are you guys going to continue the collaboration? Have you thought about that?
LEANDER PAES: Yes, we actually talked about it before we even started this week, that we're going to play together all of next year.
For me, no matter what the result this week would have been, I would stick with Cara and play with her through the year.
The real joy for me to find a partner like her is to find someone who's positive, who's professional, and no matter what the score is is giving her best effort.
Today, really, I think she won the match for us. At 6‑4 in the tiebreak, she made an unbelievable reflex volley to break the guy's serve at 6‑5, and then at 6‑5 on the second serve I couldn't get to the ball, and she made another unbelievable forehand volley up the line, and Jamie took it a little easy on us. He tried to play a topspin volley instead of putting it away.
So I think at that stage, Cara really broke back and won that set for us. And to play with her is a treat, you know. I think that being our first week, we figured each other's games out. She knows she's got to do everything. I just have to sit and watch.
CARA BLACK: That's a lie.


Who came to see the other? Who made the first move to try to play?
CARA BLACK: We both have been talking about ‑‑ yeah, it was a pretty mutual, coming together. I think Leander had spoken to my husband, and, yeah, they've kind of been talking on and off.
LEANDER PAES: He played hard to get.
CARA BLACK: He's very protective.


You were talking about it a few days ago that you found a new‑found motivation, your two‑and‑a‑half year‑old daughter. In the back of your mind, you still play for her, but do you think now that you're chasing that only title that you don't have that has alluded you now, the Australian Open doubles champion in men's? Is it in the back of your mind?
LEANDER PAES: You know, today it was in the back of my mind that I hadn't won this one. I've been in two finals here. I was match point up in one of them with Lisa Raymond many years ago, and today I woke up this morning with a purpose.
I woke up this morning really fired up, and when I came out to practice, I just said to Cara, you know ‑‑ I knew she's always got my back, and that's the great thing about her. I needed to let her to know that I've got her back.
Whether it's the US Open, Australian Open, French Open, it doesn't matter. I've always got her back. I've won the Australian twice. I've won Wimbledon twice. Never won the French. I've been in the finals there. That's the only Grand Slam I haven't won yet, and I hope Cara and myself can do that next year.


The men's doubles in Australia, you've never won it?
LEANDER PAES: No, I haven't won that. No.


Should you win those titles that have alluded you, how do you call it, a Super Grand Slam?
LEANDER PAES: Call it what you want. It's just another tournament for me.
CARA BLACK: Career Slam.
LEANDER PAES: At 35, I'm just blessed to have such a great career. I'm blessed to have a team of people who we all enjoy ourselves: Cara's husband, Moose, is a great motivation. The few things he tells us when we go out to play makes a big difference, like in the quarterfinals and the semifinals, to have a partner like her, to have my team there, the guys all over just supporting our team.
This is our life. This is what we kind of live every single day. So it's just you guys that report the big tournaments but even when we play the small tournaments, it's about going there and having fun and giving our hearts out every time we play, and that's what life's about for me.


Are you going to practice in your off‑season together at your own location, or ‑‑ are you going to practice...
CARA BLACK: We haven't thought about that.
LEANDER PAES: We might think of that.


One more question to you: How far do you still want to play? I mean, you talked about it...
LEANDER PAES: It's fairly simple for me. If I wake up 31 days in a row in the morning and I feel like I don't enjoy this game, I'll stop on the 32nd day. That's always been the way for me.


You were in the first tiebreaker first set, you were down 3‑5. You made a great volley to 4‑5, 5‑6, 6‑6, 7‑6. How was the feeling after you made a great shot?
CARA BLACK: It was amazing to pull that set out. I think I struggled to put quite a few returns in.
Leander was great. He was getting it back for me all the time, but we just got down that one break and that mini break in the tiebreak, but ‑‑ yeah, it was ‑‑ it was all reaction, you know.
After coming through, after being ‑‑ what was it? 6‑4? Yeah, 6‑4 down. To pull that through that set when you just didn't expect it was amazing and really gave us a huge lift.


How does it feel to have, on the other side of the court, your doubles partner?
LEANDER PAES: Leander is amazing. You're not going to find anyone with quicker hands and such magic flying around that court. It's such a joy to play with him.
No, I think we are ‑‑ I'm very blessed to have him there by my side.


So mixed doubles, doubles. Do you prefer ‑‑ any preference?
CARA BLACK: They're totally different, you know. But, yeah, I do prefer mixed, because then Leander can do all the work.
LEANDER PAES: She says she's playing with two girls

Sania Mirza to miss US Open

Sania Mirza's wrist injury has forced her to miss the 2008 US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year, which starts next week.

"I've always done well at the US Open and it is very disappointing for me to miss a Grand Slam on my favourite surface due to my wrist injury," India's top woman player said in a statement.

Mirza, 21, has struggled to come to terms with her game since undergoing wrist surgery and has been advised complete rest for an initial period of 3 weeks.

The injury also forced her to retire in her first round match at the Beijing Olympics. Mirza first injured her wrist during the Indian Wells tournament in March, necessitating a surgery in Miami the following month.

Mirza dropped out of the Top 40 in July and is currently ranked 63 in the world.

Maiden ATP doubles crown for Rohan Bopanna

Rohan Bopanna won his maiden ATP doubles crown on Sunday, his first from five appearances in a final, when he partnered American Eric Butorac to beat Travis Parrott and Dusan Vemic 7-6(5), 7-6(5) at the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles.

Last month, 28-year-old Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan reached the final at Newport. His three other final round appearances were all on home soil in 2006 and 2007.

With the win, Bopanna moved up 10 places to 44 in the ATP doubles rankings, within striking distance of the career-high ranking of 43 he achieved last month.

Bopanna now heads for the $508,000 Legg Mason Classic in Washington DC where he teams up again with regular partner Qureshi.

Somdev Devvarman represents India in the singles event, after battling through three rounds of qualifying. In the final round of qualifying, Devvarman beat Japan's Go Soeda 7-5,7-5. Soeda had brought the Indian's unbeaten streak as a pro player to an end in the Vancouver Open quarterfinals last month.

(Photo: ATP website)

$475,000 COUNTRYWIDE CLASSIC, Los Angeles
(August 4 -10, 2008)
HARD COURT
Men's Singles Qualifying Round 1
Rohan Bopanna lost to (6)Woong-Sun Jun(KOR) 4-6,2-6

Men's Doubles Final
Rohan Bopanna/Eric Butorac(USA) beat Travis Parrott(US)/Dusan Vemic(SRB) 7-6(5),7-6(5)
Semifinal
beat Juan Martin Del Potro(ARG)/Fabio Fognini(ITA) 7-6(4),4-6,10-5
Quarterfinal
beat (2)Scott Lipsky(US)/David Martin(US) 6-4,6-4
Round 1
beat (WC)Johan Brunstrom(SWE)/Jean-Julien Rojer(AHO) 6-3,1-6,10-3

Stephen Amritraj, Mustafa Ghouse pair up for Europe summer

Stephen Amritraj, the lesser-known Amritraj in contemporary tennis, is partnering Mustafa Ghouse in doubles events for the rest of the European summer.

While the Indian contingent (Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao) start their Olympic campaign on August 11, Stephen and Mustafa will be pairing up at a challenger in Istanbul and then playing the Italy challengers in Manerbio and Como the following weeks.

"Musty and I are pretty much best friends and have a lot in common including good results together. We believe that the way to do it is to stick with one partner so we have given it this summer in Europe together," Amritraj told the Indian Tennis Blog.

Last month, he reached the doubles semifinals of Challenger tournaments at Rimini (with Mustafa Ghouse) and Medjugorje (with Matwe Middelkoop).

Getting good results in doubles means Stephen ends up missing singles qualifiers for the following week's events, thus forcing him to put his singles career on the backburner.

"I want to play singles when I can, but it isn't my top priority right now just because of goals and financial status," the 24-year-old said.

While cousin Prakash is currently India's highest-ranked tennis player, Stephen is ranked a lowly 1622 (as on July 28) in singles. But he's ranked 285 in doubles, 44 rungs short of a career-high he achieved in November 2007.

Last year, Stephen won four doubles trophies -- at the Kaohsiung challenger in Taiwan and three Futures events. At the very least, he'll have to match that performance to move into the Top 200.

It won't be easy, considering Stephen is yet to salvage his career from a clutch of injuries sustained over the years.

On February 16, 2003, while still a student at Duke University, Amritraj injured his knee while playing Mark Henderson. Rehabilitation after surgery forced him off the courts for three months.

Two years later, during his last match at college, Stephen tore ligaments in his knee. The result -- more time spent at the hospital.

"I have had three surgeries on my knees...and this has hampered my movement on slippery surfaces and has hurt in long, grinding matches," Amritraj said.

In May this year, just before the Carson challenger in the US, Stephen took a fall and broke it with his left hand, injuring his wrist.

"Basically played a whole month with just a one-handed chip backhand. I took a cortisone shot and went to Europe but after eight weeks, it's worn off so I have needed rest and therapy from time to time," he said.

That's also one of the reasons he won't be playing anywhere the coming week.

Amritraj, who grew up in the Californian city of Calabasas, is skipping both the challenger events in New Delhi, a decision he arrived at after changing his mind "at least four times each week".

"(I was) pretty much expecting to win both and nothing less, especially the second one because no one will stick around for doubles and my record last year against other Indians was something like 27-3."

After losing their opening match at the Graz challenger in Austria, Stephen and Mustafa opted to take a fortnight off before they rejoin the Tour in Istanbul.

ALSO READ
Karan Rastogi to resume playing Tour events in 2009
Somdev Devvarman wins at Lexington, his fourth title in a row
May take Sania Mirza weeks to get back killer forehand
Somdev Devvarman misses out on ACC player honour

Karan Rastogi to resume playing Tour events in 2009

India's Karan Rastogi, his promising tennis career laid low by recurring back problems, will attempt a comeback on the Tour early next year.

Rastogi, 21, underwent surgery in Melbourne last week after staying off the tennis courts for almost two months.

"The surgery went off exactly as planned, the surgeon was very happy with the result. I have been discharged already and have been walking around quite a bit," Rastogi told the Indian Tennis Blog on Tuesday.

"Planning on returning to the Tour (in) January or February 2009 but all that depends on the physio and surgeon and how fast I recover," he said.

Back problems have been Rastogi's bane in the past year, noticeably at the Mumbai Open in September, and continued to affect his game and confidence as his ATP ranking plummeted nearly 300 places in recent months.

As a junior, Rastogi was hailed as India's best tennis hope since Leander Paes but a successful transition to men's tennis was no easy task.

His career-best ranking of 327, which he achieved as a 19-year-old in June 2006, is a milestone Rastogi looked set to beat when he won the Morocco F5 Futures claycourt tournament in July last year.

But the Mumbai resident has enjoyed only sporadic success since -- semifinal placings at the $15,000 TCL Futures in Taizhou(China) in April and the $15,000 Meshref Futures in Kuwait the following month.

Although he picked up two doubles titles in China and Korea in April, back problems again forced him to miss the two New Delhi Challengers in May.

Rastogi gifted Australia's Miles Armstrong a walkover victory in the Kuwait semifinal and hasn't played professionally since.

Chances of him coming back to the tennis court this year are bleak -- the recovery process will keep him in Melbourne for a couple of months.

"I won't be able to get back to practice for at least another two months or so I think," Rastogi said.

With Somdev Devvarman having usurped Rastogi's place as upcoming tennis great and teenager Yuki Bhambri fast catching up, the world number 718 (as on July 28) has a hard task at hand.

But no one can take Karan Rastogi for granted. After all, he might just spring some surprises next year.

Somdev Devvarman wins at Lexington, his fourth title in a row

Winning one tennis tournament is hard enough, winning four on the trot may seem impossible. But not for Somdev Devvarman.

The reigning NCAA champion picked up his fourth consecutive title from as many tournaments when he beat American Robert Kendrick in the final of the Lexington Challenger on Sunday.

Devvarman prevailed 6-3, 6-3 to win the $50,000 event, his biggest triumph yet -- one that may vault him 200 places into the Top 350 when the ATP ranking list is released on Monday. (Update: Devvarman rose from 566 to 345)

The 23-year-old Indian lost just two sets the entire week -- in his upset win over second seed Bobby Reynolds in Round 2 and his opening match in the qualifiers. In all, he came through eight matches to win his first Challenger title.

Devvarman has remained unbeaten on the pro tour since passing out of the University of Virginia in May -- with trophies at the $10,000 Buffalo Bills tournament in Rochester, the $10,000 Futures event in Pittsburgh, New York's Kennedy Funding Invitational and now at Lexington.

Currently ranked 566 on the ATP list, the lanky Indian beat Top-100 players Sam Querrey and Dudi Sela in New York before beating number 92 Reynolds this week.




$50,000 FIFTH THIRD BANK TENNIS CHALLENGER, Lexington, USA
(July 21 - 27, 2008)
HARD, PLEXIPAVE COURT
Men's Singles Final
Somdev Devvarman beat (3)Robert Kendrick(USA) 6-3,6-3
Semifinal
beat Xavier Malisse(BEL) 4-1 (retired)
Quarterfinal
beat Andrea Stoppini(ITA) 7-6(6),6-1
Round 2
(2)Bobby Reynolds(US) 6-7(4),7-5,6-4
Round 1
beat Jamie Baker(GB) 7-5,6-2
Qualifying Round 3
beat (7)Jose Statham(NZ) 6-2,6-2
Round 2
beat Marcus Fugate(USA) 6-0,6-0
Round 1
beat (3)Takao Suzuki(JPN) 6-2,2-6,7-6(7)

Devvarman now heads to Vancouver to try and continue his unbeaten streak at the $100,000 Odlum Brown Open -- a feat that will surely make his Top-100 peers sit up and take notice.

In a poll conducted by the Indian Tennis Blog in December, 48 per cent picked Devvarman as the "Indian player to watch out for in 2008".

(Photos from Lexington tournament website)

May take Sania Mirza weeks to get back killer forehand

When Sania Mirza embarks on a quest for Olympic glory in August, even the prayers of a billion Indians may not be enough to see her through.

The golden girl of Indian tennis hasn't quite regained the form that took her to number 27 in the WTA rankings in August 2007. But it's not just a question of finding her rhythm.

After wrist surgery in April this year, Sania only returned to the Tour a fortnight before Wimbledon. And her forehand, considered one of the best in the game, is no longer the formidable weapon it used to be.

That's something even Sania's father and mentor Imran Mirza admits.

"I think Sania is still not playing at the level she was at before the injury. Basically, she still does not have the awesome power and control in her forehand that made her a top 30 player," Mirza told the Indian Tennis Blog on Sunday.

The vagaries of the ranking points system have ensured that Sania stays in the Top 40(Update: She fell 15 spots to number 50 on Monday) but the truth is the 21-year-old hasn't won consecutive matches in the five events she played since her comeback.

Imran Mirza urges patience.

"I think it may take a few more weeks or even months before she gets that venom back in her forehand although it is gradually improving."

"However, her fitness level and other aspects of the game have improved considerably although these are not good enough without her world-class forehand to win consistently at the highest level."

That's certainly not good news for those hoping for a medal-winning run from Sania at the Beijing Olympics. But there's hope yet in the women's doubles event, where she partners Sunitha Rao.

Currently in Stockholm for the $145,000 Nordea Nordic Light Open, Sania will return to India for a few days before proceeding to Beijing. After the Olympics, she'll rush to the United States for the $600,000 Pilot Pen event in New Haven, a week before the U.S. Open kicks off on August 25.

But Mirza senior knows it may be some time before Sania can live up to fans' expectations and start winning more matches.

"We need to be patient with her game as of now."