Tennis: Paes puts paid to Bates

GREAT BRITAIN'S hopes of retaining their place among the elite of world tennis hung in the balance after Jeremy Bates, the British No 1, was beaten by India's Leander Paes in the first rubber of the Davis Cup World Group qualifying round in New Delhi yesterday.

Although Mark Petchey brought some respite to a depressingly familiar tale - winning a fourth set tie-break to level the second match against the Indian No 1, Ramesh Krishnan, before bad light stopped play - the prospects of Tony Pickard's team appear to rest on the shoulders of the inexperienced Essex player in today's deciding set.

The portents are not promising following Bates's 6-2, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 setback in a match lasting three hours and played in temperatures well into the 90s. Despite being 165 places below Bates's 90th world ranking, Paes, 19, a former Wimbledon junior champion, always looked more at home on the bouncy, sun-baked grass courts.

'This was my worst Davis Cup performance,' Bates said. 'I was in fine shape physically but the heat magnified even the smallest of problems.'

Bates, returning to the game after a six-week lay-off for his marriage and honeymoon, had problems with his service, which had been instrumental in his success at Wimbledon.

After dropping the first set, he saved two set points in the second before winning the tie-break 7-2. When Paes captured a scrappy third set, punctuated by five service breaks, Bates's resolve weakened, and he succumbed in the sweltering heat as Paes reeled off six consecutive games in the fourth set. The final game included three double-faults from Bates.

'The serving was awful and the feet refused to move.' Bates moaned. 'The crowd did not help matters by moving during rallies. Paes did not play any outstanding tennis, it's just that I played my worst.'

'It was a great win,' Paes enthused. 'My strategy was to keep him away from the net and it succeeded. He seemed to lose his rhythm and I wore him down.'

The pressure then turned on Petchey, and the 22-year-old responded magnificently, justifying his surprise selection ahead of Chris Wilkinson for the singles by fighting back twice to draw level with Krishnan at 3-6, 6-3,

3-6, 7-6 in another three-hour match. The conclusion of this will be followed by a doubles match, with Bates partnering Neil Broad against Krishnan and Paes. The reverse singles are tomorrow.

In the semi-finals of the main event, Switzerland, aiming to reach the final for the first time, had a perfect start in Geneva in front of a partizan crowd of 18,000 when Marc Rosset, the Olympic champion, overpowered Jaime Oncins, of Brazil, 6-3, 7-5, 7-5. Their place in December's final against either the United States or Sweden was virtually assured when Jakob Hlasek beat Luiz Mattar 6-2, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to open up a 2-0 lead.

(Photograph omitted)