Somdev Devvarman will deliver in Davis Cup, believes Paes

Leander Paes tips Somdev to shine in Davis Cup tie beginning today

Leander Paes tips Somdev to shine in Davis Cup tie beginning today

India's most-capped Davis Cupper Leander Paes believes Chennai Open finalist Somdev Devvarman will be the man to watch out for in their second round tie of the Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup against Chinese Taipei beginning today at the Yang-Ming Tennis Center.

Watch out! India's Somdev Devvarman will take on Chinese Taipei's world number 365 Ti Chen in today's Asia/Oceania Group I Davis Cup singles match

Devvarman, India's highest ranked singles player at 150, will share the singles' load with Rohan Bopanna while Leander and Mahesh Bhupathi lead the doubles charge.

And despite the return of Taipei's No 1, Yen-Hsun Lu (World No 59), who missed the team's first round win over Kazakhstan, Paes believes India can pull it off.

While Bopanna (ranked 320) will fight it out against Lu, 24-year-old Devvarman faces Taipei's world number 365 Ti Chen.

Easy outing
And Paes sees no reason why Devvarman should struggle. "Som should win today easily, but the match to look out for obviously will be Som versus Lu (on Sunday). That will be a cracker and I'm confident Som will do well," Paes told MiD DAY from his hotel room in the Chinese Taipei yesterday.

"Firstly, Som has a very good head on his shoulders, and secondly, rankings don't really matter in the Davis Cup, where it's purely about the heart and of course nerves.

"We just finished our team dinner and the mood in the camp is very positive. We are all raring to go," said Paes, as always, exuding confidence when it came to his and partner Hesh's role.

"Mahesh and me have done well for ourselves in the beginning of the season (with Bhupathi winning the mixed doubles title with Sania Mirza at the year's first Grand Slam, the Australia Open).

"We really could not have asked for a better start to the Tour and hopefully we can carry on our form into this fixture. It's all about being professional and as long as we play some good, solid tennis out there, we should be fine," he signed off.