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Lebanon made it hot for India

Polly Wilson

This is the land of fighters and gladiators, of men brave and bold. It is a land where a thousand plots have been plotted, where strategies have been planned and implemented. This is a land steeped in history; where medieval India still mixes and with the modern in peaceful coexistence. It is the city of Nawabs and currently, the place to where a Davis Cup tie has returned, after a gap of 25 long years.

It would have been expected that Lucknow would rejoice and turn out in throngs to cheer on India’s modern-day team warriors as they battled Lebanon for a chance to play South Korea or Japan. Expectations remained mere expectations, as at this Davis Cup, the loudest supporters of its own players, due to the almost total lack of spectators, was the Indian team itself.

Said Indian No 1 Leander Paes after the match. "If you have your team behind you, it really doesn’t matter where the crowd is. You play for the team."

But even if Leander and Syed Fazaluddin were playing to the team and not to the screaming hordes that fill the galleries come Davis Cup time, they managed to make the occasion a memorable one for India.

India contrived to take a 2-0 lead on a hot, motionless day at the Oudh Gymkhana. But the main word here is contrived, as they managed to make a hash of things, or almost did, before things worked out fine for the hosts.

Though Leander was always in a higher class than the big-built Ali Hamadeh, he needed to put a lot more effort into the 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win than should have been in normal circumstances. The 25-year-old Hamadeh gave up playing singles on the circuit two years ago because he felt it was going nowhere and decided to concentrate only on doubles. While his highest singles ranking was around the 800 mark, his doubles, after playing just a few events, touched 150 last summer.

But what he lacked in experience, the Lebanese made up by sheer grit and determination. It takes that much to mentally work yourself back into the match after being 0-4 down in the first set and playing a much-higher ranked opponent than yourself.

As Leander said later, "He started serving better and held his head up. He probably realised he could play against me."

Fazal should be a much happier man after his hard-fought 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) win over Lebanese No 1 Hicham Zaatini (ranked about 150 places below the Indian). Yet again, the win should have been easy. Zaatini has never played on grass before and was on the comeback from an injured shoulder. Plus of course, it wasn’t home. In the end though, Fazal scraped through.

Meanwhile, those that wondered whether Ramesh Krishnan would be the best choice for captain, could happily say goodbye to those fears, as Ramesh led totally from the front. For instance, when Fazal had lost four successive games and Zaatini was serving for the set 6-5 in the fourth set, it was Ramesh’s few quiet words that calmed the Calcuttan’s nerves and put him in the right frame of mind to break back and win the tie-break and the match.

Said Fazal after the match: "I was trying too much and it wasn’t working. Ramesh really helped me at changeover, told me to relax and think it was just another game. In the tie-break I relaxed and played without thinking about it."

Added Leander: "The first thing Ramesh brings to the game is professionalism. He leaves no stone unturned, goes into every little detail. For instance, when everyone in the media had said that this tie would be a cakewalk, Ramesh made it very clear that we would have to give it our all and not take things easy. The experience he brings and his involvement, almost makes it like we’re playing two on one. He gives us a huge upper hand."

Ramesh was his usual unassuming self when asked if being a captain was tougher than being a player.

"Being on out there on court is much, much tougher. Sitting on a chair is the easy part. We prepared much harder for this tie than I have prepared for some of my ties in the past. We had prepared ourselves to play what we were capable of."

Lebanon captain Raymond Kattoura is still optimistic about the tie. "All is not lost," said he. "We still have a chance to win the doubles. The boys are very motivated." After the “boys’ performance today, India should tread wary.