Tennis: Weakened doubles team lose

By TERRY MADDAFORD

A struggling Mark Nielsen could hold serve only twice as he and Alistair Hunt went down 3-6 2-6 2-6 to the highly-ranked Indian pairing of Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in their Asia/Oceania Davis Cup tie in Calcutta tonight.

The win gave the home team a 2-1 lead before the first reverse singles in which James Shortall faced Indian No 1 Rohan Bopanna.

Non-playing captain Glenn Wilson opted to stand the unwell Nielsen down.

He was in no condition to face another gruelling battle in the heat and humidity.

New Zealand, down 1-0 after Nielsen lost the opening singles on Friday to Paes, fought back to level at 1-1 on Saturday when Hunt played one of his finest matches at this level to beat Bopanna 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 9-7 in a three-hour thriller.

"It was unbelievable," said team manager Brett Hibbert of Hunt's effort in a match delayed by heavy rain.

"It was a huge effort mentally and physically for Hunt to come back as he did with the heat and crowd against him.

"After struggling in the first set and the early stages of the second on a soft grass court which did not suit him, I sensed a change.

"He lifted and came back strongly to win in just under three hours.

"Alistair rated it right up there with the win he had against Korea in 2001, when we got home 3-2."

New Zealand had an early chance to make a statement in the doubles when they had Paes 0-40 on serve but could not finish it. They then broke Bhupathi for 2-1 but Nielsen dropped his serve and the chance for a 3-1 lead.

The New Zealanders dropped serve twice in each of the second and third sets losing the match in just under two hours.

The Indians are both ranked in the top 20 on the ATP list for doubles.

Shortall was on court about an hour later.

Depending on the result of that match and the time available, Hunt was likely to return to play his singles against Paes in what might still have been the tie decider.

"Shortall was made aware of the situation regarding Nielsen and was ready to play," said Hibbert.

"He, like Hunt, is a big server and would be in with a chance if he serves well against Bopanna, who effectively is a straight serve and volley player."