Indians stay alive in Davis Cup tie

Leander Paes issued a warning to American Andy Roddick after the Indian and his partner Mahesh Bhupathi foiled U.S. plans for a Davis Cup sweep with a 6-4 1-6 6-3 7-6 (8-6) doubles win on Saturday.

"He (Roddick) is going to have to come up with the goods," said Paes of his singles opponent on Sunday after India pulled the qualifying round tie back to 2-1.

"There's no doubt he's got talent and he is a very good player but I am going to work some strategy out tonight and take it to him."

Paes was overflowing with confidence after he and Bhupathi defeated Jared Palmer and Don Johnson in front of a crowd of 5,914 at the Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum.

The U.S. need to win only one of the two reverse singles matches to clinch victory and remain in the World Group next year.

World No. 15 Roddick faces No. 232 Paes in the first match on Sunday. If Paes pulled off a win, Indian captain Ramesh Krishnan would be faced with a difficult decision.

Krishnan could elect to go with Harsh Mankad, who lost to Roddick on Friday, or choose a different player to take on James Blake.

"We really haven't thought about that yet," Krishnan said. "I would rather sleep on that decision. We'd like to savour this win for now."

Paes and Bhupathi, this year's French Open champions, played brilliantly with some flashy volleyed winners and steady service games.

Eight in a row
Even when Palmer and Johnson broke serve to tie the fourth set at 5-5, the Indians held on to set up a tiebreaker during which they survived a set point before taking the match. It was their eighth straight victory in Davis Cup play.

"The Indians are obviously a great team," said U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe. "Leander is very quick and athletic and Mahesh hit some unbelievable returns.

"They both hit some great reflex volleys and they cover the net well. And they work together well as a team."

Palmer and Johnson, the reigning Wimbledon champions, are now 0-2 against the Indian team, having lost to them earlier this year at Monte Carlo.

"Mahesh and Leander are great players," said Johnson. "They do everything really well and they have super chemistry. Jared and I have great chemistry as well but they put the right ingredients into the chemistry today."

Despite dropping the doubles, the Americans may take comfort from the sizeable lead they had after winning both singles on Friday. They have only lost three Davis Cup ties (in 1939, 1960 and 1994) after taking a 2-0 lead.

The biggest factor on Sunday may be Paes' stamina as the 28-year-old takes on the 19-year-old Roddick in the Indian's third match in three days.

Paes, though, has all the Davis Cup experience, having played in 80 rubbers to Roddick's two.

"For Davis Cup, I have brand new legs," Paes said. "I really look forward to fourth matches and I have done it a few times when we were 2-1 down, giving the team the opportunity for a fifth."

McEnroe has no intention of trying to play chess with Krishnan about which player he will choose for the fifth match.

"I think Roddick's going to play better tomorrow than he did the other day," McEnroe said. "He has been waiting for this opportunity for a long time."