India take 2-1 lead over China

India took a crucial 2-1 lead over China when Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi defeated the pair of Yang Jingzhu and Xu Ran 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and fifty minutes in the Asia-Oceania Davis Cup Zone-I first round in Lang Fang, China, on Saturday.

Paes will take on China No. 1 Zhang Yu in the first reverse singles on Sunday while Syed Fazaluddin will meet Wang Yu in the last rubber.

The winner of this tie will meet the winner of Japan-Thailand rubber in the second round in April.

After sharing points on the first day, India went about the task of winning the crucial doubles and Bhupathi, who opted out of the singles to rest his shoulder, played the major role allowing Paes to take it easy ahead of Sunday's crucial reverse singles.

The Indians' court-craft was fantastic and whenever the two approached the net together, Ran and Jingzhu found it difficult to pierce through.

Standing strong like the 'Great Wall of China' Paes and Bhupathi broke Ran and Jingzhu once each in the first set as they made easy work of the Chinese, winning it 6-2.

Having guaged the strength of their opponents, the Indians allowed the second set to go with serve till six games before punishing Ran in the seventh - the only break witnessed in this set, which they closed out (6-4) in 35 minutes.

The Indian pair were given a minor scare when Paes was broken in the fourth game of the third set and Bhupathi was stretched to four deuces in the sixth. But the two came out unscathed to propel India ahead going into Sunday's reverse singles.

Jingzhu, the more experienced at 24 years, to his 20-year-old teammate, decided to serve first and it turned out to be unlucky for the Chinese as the Indians concentrated on attacking Ran - the weaker of the two.

Paes and Bhupathi were attired in track-suits despite temepratures giving some respite this afternoon. But unlike Friday, Paes' movements did not seem restricted and he had Bhupathi to do more running around.

The Indians raced to a 4-1 lead via breaks in the third and fifth games as Paes showed what he is better at - reflex shots at the net.

Bhupathi, battling a running nose since arriving in China, which has been experiencing sub-zero temperatures, did not show any signs of illness as he helped Paes dig out of trouble twice in the match.

In the fifth game, Paes hit away from his body a reflex volley while standing very close to the net to give India the second break.

Bhupathi came up with strong deep serves which Ran and Jingzhu struggled to return. Playing in tandem, Paes hit a superb half-volley to set the Indians on course to a good lead (5-1). After Ran took the next game, Paes was fired up to serve out the set as he blasted an ace on two setpoints.

Though the scoreline in the first set was 6-2, long rallies and good tennis stretched it to 45 minutes.

Notwithstanding a few line-calls that went against them, the Indians kept their cool. The Australian chair umpire though overruled a few in India's favour as the line judges made some glaring mistakes.

Probably the lack of international tennis in China and inexperience of officiating such a fast-paced match was reflected in their mistakes.

Bhupathi survived a minor hiccup in the second game of the second set when he double-faulted twice to give the Chinese pair some hope. But Paes was at his best, though not revealing it in full to save himself for Sunday's crucial reverse singles rubber, as he swiped the ball close from the net to dig Bhupathi out of the trouble.

With games going with the serves till 3-3, the Indians seized the initiative in the seventh game as they earned two breakpoints off Ran when Bhupathi hit a perfect backhand shot.

Paes held his own after a bit of workout in the eighth game as did Yang in the next before Bhupathi served out the set taking the 10th game at love.

Smarting under the loss of two sets, Jingzhu made a bid to prove China's worth after Ran was broken in the third game. A casual Paes lost his serve at 15-40 and then in the sixth game Bhupathi allowed the hosts to feel at home as he was stretched to four deuces.

The Indians survived a bit of fright, but their ability to cope up with pressure saw them through.

Yang double-faulted to give India another break before Bhupathi scripted the victory with another love game executing a drop volley to finish off the duel.

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