Paes extends Davis Cup record, India earn Qualifiers spot with 4-0 rout of Pakistan
NUR-SULTAN, Nov 30: Veteran Leander Paes bettered his own Davis Cup record by winning his 44th doubles match, this time partnering debutant Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, as India blanked Pakistan 4-0 on Saturday to earn a spot in the 2020 Qualifiers.
Pakistani teenagers Mohammed Shoaib and Hufaiza Abdul Rehman were no match for the Indian combination of the battle-hardened Paes and Jeevan, who needed just 53 minutes to win 6-1, 6-3.
Last year, Paes became the most successful doubles player in the history of Davis Cup when he won his 43rd match, surpassing Italian great Nicola Pietrangeli during the tie against China.
The 46-year-old had taken 56 ties for his 43rd win while Pietrangeli competed in 66 ties for his 42 victories.
His record of 44 wins in 57 ties is unlikely to be broken anytime soon as except him, none of the active doubles players feature in the top-10 list. Belarusian Max Mirnyi, at number three, has 36 wins but has not played on Tour since 2018.
While Paes is at top of the heap in the doubles, the legendary Indian stands fifth in the list of players for total number of wins with 92-35 win-loss record.
He now has 92 total wins, including 48 in singles. One more win will take him to fourth spot, ahead of Spain�s Manuel Santana, who has 92-28 win-loss record.
In the reverse singles, Sumit Nagal trounced Yousaf Khalil 6-1 6-0 for his second straight win. Both the sides opted not to play the dead fifth rubber. The fourth rubber is played even if the outcome of the tie is decided after the first three matches but the rules permit teams to skip playing the dead fifth rubber.
Saturday�s result means India have won all the matches in a tie for the first time since February 2014 when they had blanked Chinese Taipei 5-0 in Indore.
India�s non-playing captain Rohit Rajpal dedicated the win to the country�s armed forces.
Pakistan�s top players Aisam-ul-haq Quershi had pulled out of the tie, protesting against ITF�s decision to shift the matches to a neutral venue, citing security concerns in Islamabad, the original venue.
India will now face world number two Croatia for the Qualifiers in an away tie, to be held on March 6-7. Twenty-four nations will go head-to-head in a bid to win one of 12 qualifying spots for the Davis Cup Finals. � PTI
