Tennis: India bounce back to leave Davis Cup tie in the balance

By TERRY MADDAFORD in Wellington

New Zealand shrugged off any suggestion that they would struggle against the higher-ranked Indians to share first-day honours in their Asia/Oceania Davis Cup semifinal yesterday.

After New Zealand had been given a flying start with Mark Nielsen's straight-sets win over Indian No 2 Harsh Mankad, the visitors struck back with an equally emphatic win by their No 1, Leander Paes, over Alistair Hunt to level at 1-1.

On a day in which a cross-court wind made conditions difficult, particularly in the first match at the Renouf Centre, there was some excellent tennis.

From the outset Nielsen and Mankad had difficulty with their toss while serving.

Nielsen broke his younger opponent's serve in the fourth game for 3-1 and was rarely in trouble beyond that, although Mankad did fight back in the ninth game when Nielsen had set-point on serve. He closed to trail 5-4, only to drop his own serve and the set after five service breaks.

The second set needed just 23 minutes but a drawn-out fifth game, eventually won by the New Zealand No 1 after Mankad had break-point, featured what could only be described as a wind-assisted ace, one of only three aces served by Nielsen - three more than his opponent.

After his comprehensive 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory in 1h 49m, Nielsen said he was happy with the way he had played.

"Wind like that is a tennis player's nightmare," said Nielsen, who stretched his Davis Cup singles record to 11-8.

"It was not pretty tennis. It was never going to be.

"Some balls were moving about two metres. You thought you had them covered only to realise you didn't. I've been playing since I was five and I still hate the wind."

Paes shocked the crowd and his non-playing captain, Ramesh Krishnan, when he took to the courts dressed more like something headed for the polar regions than a tennis player.

But it was quickly down to business for a player who, at times, gives the impression of being too casual.

That serves only to disguise a rare talent, one reflected in his outstanding doubles record and ranking and his none-too-shabby singles reputation. Without ever appearing to be in a hurry, Paes moved into position precisely and played deft shots off both forehand and backhand.

Hunt tried to cajole Paes into a baseline battle but the Indian was having none of that.

Games went with serve until the fifth game when, for the first time, Paes was under some pressure before taking it out with an ace and then a great cross-court forehand winner.

He broke Hunt in the next for 4-2 and went on to take the set 6-3 with another ace.

Apart from a couple of hard-fought games in the middle of the second set, it was pretty much a serve-and-volley contest which Paes won 6-4, and he finished off with the same score in the third set.

In serving 12 aces to Hunt's three and only one double-fault to Hunt's eight, Paes always held the upper hand.

"I struggled with my rhythm," said Hunt. "I think he played pretty well. He pokes it back over."

Both Krishnan and New Zealand's non-playing captain, Glenn Wilson, said they were reasonably happy with the outcome.

The end of the day's play signalled the start of the mind games, with suggestions that there might be changes in New Zealand's doubles pairing today and India's lineup for tomorrow's reverse singles.

' Wilson said his pairing would be a choice between Dan Willman and James Shortall, named at Thursday's draw, and Hunt and Nielsen.