US Open 2013: Men's Doubles Final: Setting the stage, Paes-ing it right

Leander Paes (L) with Radek Stepanek

When Leander Paes captured the Bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, scores of miles away, an entire nation stood up to acknowledge the enormity of that achievement.

Expectations weren’t on the higher side as far as the Indian contingent at the Olympics was concerned but Paes’ contribution did a lot to push India towards the positive side of the medal count. That was nearly 15-years ago and in the time thereon, a lot has changed for India’s prospects at the Olympics. But as far as the major tennis tournaments are considered, Paes continues to remain as one of India’s leading hopes and even now, he’s one of the leading lights of hope for millions of Indian fans. And, by making it to the finals of the Men’s Doubles at the US Open alongside Radek Stepanek, the man from Calcutta (erstwhile Kolkata) hasn’t disappointed the Indian fans, who expect a swansong victory from the former world junior number one.

The brew of the Paes-Stepanek partnership is quite unconventional though, especially the way both players have continued to complement each other on court, their games interacting and mingling seamlessly with each other. It’s hard to believe that their partnership isn’t quite mature when compared to the pairing of other doubles’ teams. In the final against the tournament’s second seeds, Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares, Paes and Stepanek would be then relying on their unique chemistry to ensure the continuity of their winning run for one last time.

That they were able to upset the Bryan Brothers, who have been at their best all year round, makes them the favourites going into the summit clash. There again, while the Austrian-Brazilian partnership won’t be exactly easy to deal with, the flair with which Paes and Stepanek have attacked from all flanks should give them the advantage over their higher ranked opponents who, at times seem to be more defensive and reactive in their approach.

Though Peya and Soares are by no means inexperienced when it comes to doubles’ action, their inability to blend in during certain crucial points ends up reflecting a certain gap in communication between the two players.

And though the duo have indeed won titles at important events this season – 2013 is statistically considered to be the highlight of the duo’s doubles’ graph - the aforementioned weakness in their game has accounted for them losing valuable points at crucial junctures.

Furthermore, so far while the second seeds have progressed with ease, most of their opponents en route to the final have been non-seeded teams when compared to Paes-Stepanek who, except for their opening two rounds, faced seeded teams – including the Bryans – with most matches going into the decisive third-set.

Though, the lack of playing against seeded pairings wouldn’t take anything away from Peya and Soares, whether or not they are able to push Paes and Stepanek, greatly does depends on their match-ups so far. Especially when one considers the accuracy of Paes’ shots directed and re-routed from the net while Stepanek provides a perfect complement from the baseline.

The Indo-Czech pair thus needs to be more aggressive, right from the very start of the game. The fact that Soares and Peya tend to huddle – all at once – at one part of the court, thus leaving the rest quite open would be a factor that the number four seeds need to capitalise on.

Getting a high percentage of serves would be quite important for the team that manages to consistently serve well can indeed attempt to put its opponents under pressure. Incidentally, while both teams have managed to post a healthy serve percentage – both in their first and second serves – it’s been the Indo-Czech pair that has a slight advantage over the Austrian-Brazilian duo who have been a bit erratic all through the fortnight.

Predicting a straight-out winner is thus difficult amongst the two teams, but suffice to say that if the Indo-Czech combination indeed ends up winning the US Open – the pair’s second major in two years – a nation’s applause, from thousands of miles away, would echo at Flushing Meadows in recognition of a certain 40-year old’s achievement.