Mahesh plays big points with control

NEW DELHI, November 5: South Korea started the day on a positive note by winning both their singles fairly comfortably. Their second and th...

NEW DELHI, November 5: South Korea started the day on a positive note by winning both their singles fairly comfortably. Their second and third ranked players Nam-Hoon Kim and Dong-Hyun Kim beat Sulistyo Wibowo and Andrian Raturandag in straight sets. The Koreans, who maintained their unbeaten streak, were too solid for the Indonesians today and also won the doubles without breaking sweat. With this win they have topped Group B.

In the other match for the top slot in Group A, we played two good singles and stamped our authority over Uzbekistan. In the first match, Vadim Kutsenko started off the blocks by slamming down big serves and hitting some good passes. But I was pleased to see Mahesh surviving two early break points and then slowly take charge of the match. He served big as usual and at the same time was patient in choosing the right ball to come in or hit. He was up 5-1 in the second and struggled a bit to close it out but kept on working and eventually did so with a couple of big serves. Now he is more in control of his nerves and plays the big points the way they should be played. That was the difference between the two.

Today Mahesh and I played the singles because Uzbekistan was the strongest team in our group. Even though Sandeep (Kirtane) played well over the last two days, we felt that both Mahesh’s and my experience in such occasions would pay off. This is no indication of Sandeep’s lack of talent, but by playing more matches, he will be ready for such situations.

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I made sure I did my homework well for today as I had lost to Dmitry Tomashevich twice before in his country last year. The last time I played him I served and volleyed through the entire match and gave him a target to hit his returns and passing shots at. I would block my forehand returns and as a result he dictated play.

Today, I decided to mix up my serve where I hit a lot of slice and kick serves to pull him off the court and then dominate play with my forehand. Occasionally, I served and volleyed and that caught him off guard as he expected me to stay back. On my returns, especially on my forehand, I chose to hit a firm top spin return into one of the corners to neutralise his first serve and then work the point to set myself with a short ball. I then had the option of getting to the net or using my forehand to put the ball away.

I am happy with the way I played today because in the past I have struggled to perform against players who are much lower ranked than I am. It is a sure sign of me getting more solid and the need to keep working in a similar manner.

In the second set, I struggled after being a break up as I lost focus but four points later got my act together to close out the match.

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In the India A match, Gaurav Natekar played a singles match and he showed that the can still perform at his level and play singles and doubles back to back. It’s a good feeling that the second string have got a win under their belt.