Paes looks forward to tough Davis Cup tie

Although Leander Paes knows that winning the Davis Cup relegation tie against The United States in two weeks time is an uphill journey, he is looking forward to the encounter.

"The Davis Cup is an event that I hold very dear to my heart," Paes said on last night at the US Open.

"I played it for over a decade now. I was a young boy, teenager when I started, 16 to be precise."

At stake in the relegation tie is a berth in the coveted 16-country Davis Cup world group competition for 2002.

United States Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe named a six-player squad yesterday that he will take to face the Indians in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the weekend of September 21-23 -- Andy Roddick, Todd Martin, James Blake, Robby Ginepri and the doubles team of Don Johnson and Jared Palmer.

Paes and doubles partner Mahesh Bhupathi, who have won three career Grand Slam titles including the French Open this year, can be expected to play both the doubles and singles at the Davis Ccup.

The Indian squad will likely be fleshed out with Harsh Mankad, Syed Fazaluddin and Mustafa Ghouse but none of the three unknowns would be expected to see action.

"As far as this present Davis Cup goes, I'm looking forward to it," Paes said. "We've got a very tough task ahead of us. I think the US have got top-calibre players. As far as our Indian team goes, we come into the tie definitely as underdogs."

While Bhupathi and Paes are expected to keep stride with Johnson and Palmer in the doubles, they are not recognised as accomplished singles players.

Paes acknowledges that Johnson and Palmer, the reigning Wimbledon champions who will play in the US open championship match on Friday against Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett, will be a tough duo to beat at the Davis Cup.

"They're with a lot of confidence at the moment, winning Wimbledon," Paes said. "They're in the final this weekend. They're coming into the Davis Cup tie with a lot of confidence.

"I think that the whole American team is. So that's something that's going to be very tough for us to battle."

Except for their success at the French Open, Bhupathi and Paes lost in the first round of the other three Grand Slams this year.

While Paes can confirm that the Indian team will not be the favourites going into the Davis Cup tie against the Americans, he is convinced they will arrive in Winston-Salem with the right spirit.

"When it comes to Davis Cup, we go out there and try our best," Paes said.