The Rediff Interview / Mahesh Bhupathi

'We just wanted to win'

Mahesh Bhupathi, immediately after winning the US Open Doubles crown, spoke to Tanmaya Kumar Nanda.

How do you view this win in retrospect, now that you are no longer with Leander Paes?

We just won the title, didn't we? I'm not here to talk about Leander.

How does this compare with your earlier wins?

A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam. So any time you win, it's a great feeling. Today, it was quite unbelievable. I was very happy, a little shocked too. I've won seven Grand Slams, but this is my first one here.

Did you have a particular strategy coming into the tournament, knowing you really hadn't practised much with (Max) Mirnyi?

Not really, we just wanted to win. And we made sure that we stayed positive and helped each other stay positive. What makes us click is that we fight, we fight till the end. And here we had a tough draw too.

Do you have any plans to go back to playing singles?

No, not really. My shoulder is still recuperating. It's a little sore and the doctors say it needs some more time. So I don't want to take any risks. If I hurt it again, it could be the end of my career. It's not worth it.

You have the Davis Cup coming up against Australia? How do you rate India's chances? What kind of preparation are you doing?

[Laughs] Chances? We are up against one of the best teams in the world, which has the world's best player [Leyton Hewitt]. Frankly, our chances are very slim. In any case, I am returning to India tonight and we'll decide on all that after I reach there.

Will you be playing with Leander for the Davis Cup?

Of course! We are India's doubles team, we will be playing. And besides the Davis Cup, we also have the Asian Games later this year where we will represent India. Playing for the country is always top priority.

Do you think it will be difficult playing with him again, especially after you've parted ways?

No, it won't be difficult. We have played with each other before and we share a good understanding.

You haven't played much with Mirnyi and won't be for some time. How is that going to affect your doubles games if you don't get enough practice?

In fact, we won't be playing together again till Super Nine in Madrid, which happens to be one day after the Asian Games get over. I guess I will just get there and start playing with him.

There was an overruled line called out there in the third set. How did that affect you, considering Mirnyi's serve got broken?

The linesmen called it out. The chair umpire overruled it, which we thought was a pretty ridiculous overrule. I know that on the replay it was out, but bad calls happened in tennis, and you know it was a big moment for us. We just broke them to go up in the third. We were able to just settle down the next two games and stay positive because it was a final and we didn't want to give it away because of a bad call.

What happened with the mixed doubles? You won Wimbledon with Elena [Likhovtseva] but lost in the quarters here.

Mixed doubles is a lottery in any case. And unlike Wimbledon, which is a best of five sets, the US Open is a best of three sets, with this new system of a super tiebreaker in the third.

You and Leander are now seen as the old men of Indian tennis, like the Amritrajs and Ramesh Krishnans were at one time. How does it feel to be the senior players on the Indian tennis scene?

I think it's time to pass the torch on to the younger guys. Unfortunately, Indian tennis seems to skip a generation before throwing up players. But there are some good players now, like Rohan and Sunil Kumar. They just need to go and play more events in the men's sections. It's a good sign and tennis in India needs a boost. They are good players and it's up to us now to guide them in the right direction.

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