Tea and tennis

It was the cup that did not cheer for Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi at a reception hosted for them by the Tea Board of India after they lost in the doubles at Wimbledon on Friday.

"Three cheers for them, they are the Pride of India duo," Jagmohan Singh Raju, who heads the Tea Board of India, announced at the reception.

It was not clear at first why Paes and Bhupathi were being promoted by the Tea Board. But Raju offered the explanation late in the evening.

"You are the reigning champions of tennis, we are the champions of tea," Raju said to them. "So this is a summit of tea and tennis."

As it turns out, neither Indian tea nor Indian tennis have had a spectacular performance in England this summer. Indian tea brands have failed to make the impact many dreamt of. And so also with Paes and Bhupathi, fresh from winning the French Open doubles earlier this year after their 1999 Wimbledon win.

But Paes and Bhupathi were cool about the matter on court earlier in the day.

"It was a tough match," Paes told rediff.com. "Those boys played a lot better, and that's the tough thing about sport. You win some, you lose some."

The mixed doubles still remains for the two at Wimbledon this summer.

"After that I'll be headed to the US for two-and-a-half months of tennis there," Paes said.

But 1999 is still not too far back to have won the Wimbledon, and the Indian pair were much feted for that despite losing the match that day. Their record in tennis is not everyone's cup of tea.

"What a wonderful performance," said Lord Swraj Paul, speaking at the dinner of their performance in tennis generally. "You make all Indians, and all Indians living abroad proud."

If there are differences still between the Indian tennis stars, they did not let them show through. After thanking all, Paes turned to Bhupathi. "And thank you, Mahesh, for everything."

Bhupathi had the last word. "Obviously we haven't had a great day," he said. "But we've had a great evening."