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Paes, Bhupathi in second round

Shailesh Soni

The top seed Indian duo of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi moved into the second round of the US Open doubles competition yesterday when they defeated Piet Norval and Kevin Ullyett, 6-4, 6-4 in their first round match.

The win will give them the much-needed confidence, considering the fact that they had played only one match together in the last two months and lost it. On top of that, they had only two hours practice together before this match because of commitments at different venues in the last two weeks. However, all that didn't prevent them from beating the world No. 13 team in straight sets and extending their Grand Slam winning streak to 13 matches.

In the first set, at 2-2, the Indians took Norval/Ullyett to four deuces before converting their second break chance. Then Mahesh held serve at love to go up 4-2. The Indians converted the next break chance at 15-40 in the seventh to take a 5-2 lead. But just when it looked like they were cruising, having won 12 of 14 points, they got erratic. In game eight, after having double set points at 40-15, the Indians lost four points in a row to drop serve. Norval/Ullyett then went on to win eight points in a row before holding serve at 5-4, with the Indians still up a break and serving.

Paes/Bhupathi were then down 15-40 and faced two more break attempts, after losing 12 of 13 points in a row. But they raised their game in the nick of time to score four points in a row and win the first set 6-4.

This was typical stuff from the champs -- losing their bearings just like that, and getting it back just when all looked really bleak.

In the second set, Paes/Bhupathi got the break in game three on their second break chance. They again troubled the South Africans in the fifth game, with three deuces but no break chances. Then in game eight, Paes/Bhupathi had to fight off four break attempts, starting at 30-40. After eight deuces, they held to go up 5-3. In the next game, they had a match-point at advantage out, but Norval/Ullyett held on. Then Bhupathi served out for the match.

Paes/Bhupathi won three of six break chances during the match, while Norval/Ullyett won just one of nine, as the Indians took an hour and 20 minutes to finish off the match.

Their next round opponents are somewhat unknown, but the combination of Jan-Michael Gambill and Adam Peterson, who beat Kitinov/Waite in a third set tie-breaker yesterday, could prove tough customers. The match is scheduled for today.

In other matches, there was a huge upset with the second seeds Paul Haarhuis and Jarryd Palmer were beaten by Jeff Coetzee and Brent Haygarth, 6-3, 6-7(6), 4-6. One wonders what caused that loss, as Haarhuis/Palmer have been looking very good over the last few weeks and were Wimbledon finalists. They also won the title at Indianapolis. Also upset were the 10th seeds Kafelnikov and Vacek. They lost to Ben Ellwood and Michael Tebbutt in a third set tie-breaker.

Others to win were 15th seeds Gimelstob/Reneberg, who could emerge as some sort of a roadblock ahead for Paes/Bhupathi. They won won 6-2, 6-2 over Coupe/Koenig.

The Woodies also advanced with a straight sets win.

In the mixed doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama moved to the final-16 round yesterday with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Alexandra Fusai and Martin Damm.

It looked like an easy game till it tightened up for a while in the second set, but Bhupathi/Sugiyama closed it out with a flurry.

In the first set, Fusai/Damm quickly faced a break point at 30-40, went through two deuces, and were broken in the third break point. The next break came in the seventh game.

At 5-2 in the next game, Bhupathi/Sugiyama were down 15-40, but they won four points in a row to win the set.

In the second set, Fusai/Damm faced triple break point in the third game, fought them off, but were broken on the fifth break chance. The advantage didn't last long, as Bhupathi/Sugiyama dropped serve on the second break attempt in the next game after being up 40-0, and then went through six deuces. Once again in the eighth game, Bhupathi/Sugiyama were up 40-0, but had to go through two deuces before holding serve to level 4-4. Then, in game 10, Bhupathi/Sugiyama had to play through three set points at 15-40 and advantage out. But they won 11 of the next 12 points to close out the match. They then held serve at 5-5, got the break in game 12 and served off the final game at love!.

In the next round match Mahesh Bhupathi and Ai Sugiyama will face Rachel McQuillan/Andrew Florent, who defeated Katie Schlukebir/Mike Bryan of USA 6-2, 6-4.

Leander Paes and Lisa Raymond will face the South African pair of Liezel Horn and Kevin Ullyett in the first round to be played later today.