India’s Leander Paes went down fighting as his dream of crowning his 30-year Davis Cup career with a place at the finals ended Saturday whi...
India’s Leander Paes went down fighting as his dream of crowning his 30-year Davis Cup career with a place at the finals ended Saturday while Ecuador and Italy reached the November showpiece, triumphing in empty arenas locked down because of the coronavirus crisis.
Paes, 46, has played for India in every Davis Cup season bar one since his debut in 1990 but went to the qualifier tie in Zagreb against two-time champions Croatia having already announced that 2020 would be his last year on tour.
With India trailing 2-0 overnight, Paes rolled back the years, linking up with 40-year-old Rohan Bopanna to defeat Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor 6-3, 6-7 (9/11), 7-5 to keep their country’s faint hopes of making the finals alive.
India are back in it! 💪@Leander and @rohanbopanna defeat the Croatian duo 6-3 6-7(9) 7-5...
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) March 7, 2020
🇭🇷 Croatia 2️⃣-1️⃣ India 🇮🇳 #DavisCupQualifiers pic.twitter.com/RN5LUkLskh
However, former US Open champion Marin Cilic then ruthlessly crushed that ambition with a quickfire 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Sumit Nagal.
“This was going to be my last match but the captain (Rohit Rajpal) said something to me after the match,” Paes told daviscup.com, hinting that he could still play in the September play-offs.
“I will leave it to the captain because whoever plays, the best thing...
