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Ramesh praises Paes for 'well-deserved' victory

Non-playing captain Ramesh Krishnan termed India's victory over China in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone Group I tie in Lang Fang City, near Beijing, as "well-deserved", especially in view of the formidable playing conditions.

Commenting on the performance of the country's number one tennis player, Leander Paes, who won both his singles matches and teamed up with Mahesh Bhupathi for a victory in the doubles as well, Ramesh said: "Paes performed well. Today he disintegrated his opponent and maintained his superb level all the way through."

Playing some of his best tennis in extreme conditions, Paes blasted past Chinese number one Zhang Yu in straight sets 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 to take the country to the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania zone second round.

Asked which country he would prefer playing in the second round, where India meet the winner of the Thailand-Japan tie, Ramesh said it would definitely be Thailand. "If it is Thailand, we have a big advantage as we play them in our country. This will be a big benefit for us. However, in case of Japan, we will have to travel to their country."

Asked whether he was confident of the team making it to the world group playoff, Ramesh said he looked positively at this.

Last year India had reached the world group playoff after defeating Lebanon in the first round (February, in Lucknow) and Korea in the second round (April, in Delhi). But they lost the playoff to Sweden in July at Bastad (Sweden), beaten 0-5 with Paes out of action because of a wrist injury.

UNI