Bopanna, Somdev all set for Davis Cup tie against Brazil

CHENNAI - Apparently making the final of the US Open doubles last week in New York City has rocketed Rohan Bopanna’s confidence to another level and his eagerness to carry the momentum into this weekend’s Davis Cup playoff tie against Brazil here was palpable.

Within hours of flying halfway across the world, Bopanna was on the outside courts of the SDAT Stadium here, knocking the ball and riding on his newfound status as the World No.19 in doubles and ranked sixth as a team with his long-time tour partner Aisam-ul Haq Quershi of Pakistan.

“My confidence is high. I got on to the court today itself after a long travel from New York and I was able to hit the ball really good.

“These four days of training before the Davis Cup tie are important and crucial. I will be working on my movements. Looking towards that, I am happy that I am really hitting the ball well and playing well.

“I have to believe in my game and try and win my singles match on Friday,” said the 30-year old Bangalorean at a media conference this afternoon.

Of course, in singles, Bopanna has few pretensions as a force to reckon with. He is currently ranked 479, well below the likes of Somdev Devvarman (113) and Prakash Amritraj (341). For all that, he has several notable singles victories in Davis Cup.

However, Bopanna preferred to focus on the tie rather than rankings and hoped that he would get used to the conditions here, especially the hard court that he said was a tad slower than the one he played on at the US Open.

“We are going to workout together to make sure we can take it from here and save as much energy as possible because the humidity factor is very high here. I am sure, I should be fine physically.

“I have been seeing Brazilian players every week on the circuit. Thomaz Bellucci and Ricardo Mello are really good and left handed players. It will be as tough tie for us, but it is great to have a home tie after a gap of two years and first time on the hard court.

“Coming from the US Open, I feel the court here is little bit on the slower side. Obviously, it will be a day or two for me to get used to this court, but with the four days practice, I should be fine,” he said.

On his part, Somdev hoped to win the tie and qualify for the World Group, but admitted that the task was challenging given the fact that the Brazilian singles players are higher ranked.

“Rohan and I have been really doing well. We have come out here five days ahead to get ready for the tie. It is a good chance for us to get back to World Group by winning against the Brazilians,” he said.

Both team coach Nandan Bal and non-playing captain Shiv Prakash Mishra stressed on the obvious, saying that the tie could run close while hoping that the weather conditions and crowd support could swing the fortunes India’s way.

“We are facing two left handed Brazilian singles players who are tough on clay and not too sure whether they are good on hard courts.

“We are hoping for the weather to heat up little more and obviously the crowd support. It is going to be a good tie. Our boys are capable enough to put things together and we should be home.

“If we are at least 1-1 on the first day, we are going to be in good shape for winning the tie. The Brazilians work as a team back home. Most of the countries are considered as scratch teams as they pull together four players for Davis Cup matches, but the Brazilians work as a team right through the year,” Bal pointed out.

The coach opined that Bopanna’s performance could prove critical from India’s perspective.

“Our players have always performed well in Davis Cup, much better than what their rankings suggest. Rohan’s performance, in particular, has been spectacular this season in Davis Cup. We are looking to him to pull out the matches in our favour,” Bal said.

Mishra agreed, saying: “It is a tough tie, but we have the advantage of playing at home and the weather is going to suit us much more. If Rohan Bopanna could give us a good start like he did in South Africa and Russia, it is going to be a positive result for us.”

He felt that winning the two opening singles on Friday would be a huge boost for India who will then go into Saturday’s doubles match with Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in harness.