DUBAI, Feb 21 (PTI) With Somdev Devvarman qualifying for the singles event, all the members of the Indian Davis Cup team are now set to compete in the USD 1,619,500 Dubai Tennis Championships, beginning here tomorrow.
Seeded seventh, Somdev overcame a fist set lapse to tame Belgian Dick Norman 3-6 7-6(1) 6-1 in the second and final round of the qualifying event to claim one of the four main draw slots on offer. Senior pros Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, as expected, are seeded along with their partners in the doubles event.
Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy are seeded second and will open their campaign against Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.
Bhupathi and his Belarusian partner Max Mairnyi are seeded third and are up against wild card pair of Abdullah Madas of Kuwait and Mahmoud-Nader Al Baloushi of the UAE in their opening round. Another Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi have been handed a wild card entry. They will play against the formidable combination of Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Arnaud Clement of France.
DUBAI, Feb 21 (PTI) With Somdev Devvarman qualifying for the singles event, all the members of the Indian Davis Cup team are now set to compete in the USD 1,619,500 Dubai Tennis Championships, beginning here tomorrow.
Seeded seventh, Somdev overcame a fist set lapse to tame Belgian Dick Norman 3-6 7-6(1) 6-1 in the second and final round of the qualifying event to claim one of the four main draw slots on offer. Senior pros Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, as expected, are seeded along with their partners in the doubles event.
Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy are seeded second and will open their campaign against Polish pair of Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski.
Bhupathi and his Belarusian partner Max Mairnyi are seeded third and are up against wild card pair of Abdullah Madas of Kuwait and Mahmoud-Nader Al Baloushi of the UAE in their opening round. Another Indian Davis Cupper Rohan Bopanna and his Pakistani partner Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi have been handed a wild card entry. They will play against the formidable combination of Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Arnaud Clement of France.
