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It was a pleasure to play Leander Paes in his country: Rafa Nadal

  • Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez beat Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4. in the doubles match of Davis Cup World Group Play off on Sunday.
  • Nadal later said it was a tough match and it was great fighting against a legend like Paes.
  • Spain has qualified for the World Group after a gap of two years.
Rafa Nadal says it was a pleasure to play Leander Paes in his country

Indian ace Leander Paes is one of the biggest stars in doubles, and one of the best players in the history of tennis said Fourteen-time Grand Slam winner, Rafael Nadal.

 

Nadal led Spain to the Davis Cup World Group by winning the doubles match after Feliciano Lopez, and Davis Ferrer won their singles matches on day one. Spain leads India 3-0 with two singles matches to go on Sunday.

 

"He (Leander) played a great match. It is a pleasure to play him here in his country. He is one of the biggest stars of doubles and one of the best players in the history of the sport," said Nadal after he, along with Marc Lopez beat Leander Paes and Saketh Myneni last night.

 

The Spanish duo after going down one set sealed the match 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, 6-4.

 

"So, it was great to compete against Leander, and it was a tough match. They played well, but we are happy to have the victory and come back to the world group. That's what was our goal, and we did it. For us it was a major confrontation after being away from the World Group for two years," the Spaniard added.

 

The Spanish pair - Olympic champions - were a set and 5-4 down in the second set when they staged a fightback to give Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead in the play-off eventually.

 

Nadal clarified that it was indeed a stomach bug that forced him to skip the opening singles match against Ramkumar Ramanathan on Friday.

 

"It was not the wrist. Everybody knows my situation I have always been honest about it. My wrist is improving, but it still bothers me a little bit. But I am happy with the progress. There is a lot of humidity here and after practice, I had lunch at the hotel, and I felt I was not feeling perfect to go on court. Feli (Feliciano Lopez) was in perfect condition to go to court so he played," said Nadal.

 

Asked if they were confident of bouncing back after losing the first set in the doubles match, Nadal said: "We played point by point, that's all. When you lost a set at 5-3, that means you are in trouble. But at the same time the match is still long, we fought a lot and put a lot of balls in and we knew if we could increase the level we can win."

 

"We were communicating all the time, but the ball was not going to the right place all the time. In Davis Cup doubles there is always a lot of ups and downs, and it was an ideal doubles match. It was a great victory. It was important for us to win doubles because the history of Spanish team shows that it has always been difficult to win doubles."

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