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Crashing the Woodies' party Bhupathi and Paes loom as possible second round test
SYDNEY, Sept 16 (AFP) - Indian doubles aces Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi are confident they will wreck the Woodies farewell party in the Olympic tennis tournament. The Indians, the world's top doubles pair before they split up last year, have reformed their partnership for Sydney and, despite a lack of competitive match practice, are seen as the Australian duo's main rivals for gold. Their time apart, however, means they have not been seeded here and Friday's draw was less than kind, lining them up to meet the Australians, Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge, in the second round. "We were not seeded, so we expected a tough draw," Bhupathi, who arrived here on Friday, told AFP Saturday after the pair's first practice session at the Olympic tennis centre. "But if we are planning on winning a medal here we have got to beat a lot of good teams. "We have come to win the tournament so we expect a lot of tough matches." Paes, who won India's only medal in Atlanta four years ago - a bronze in the singles - dismissed suggestions that the pair were struggling to recover the on-court understanding that helped them reach all four Grand Slam finals last year, winning the French Open and Wimbledon. "The understanding we never lose. That is something that we create as two individuals," he said. "It's a matter of just getting our games together, and for that we have to patient and ready to work really hard. Things will come into place." The Indian No. 1, who is also playing singles here and was India's flag-bearer in Friday's opening ceremony, also played down the pressure of being the country's best medal prospect. "We have got a billion people back home lifting us up to higher heights, and that is something we use to our advantage," Paes said. Woodforde, meanwhile, said the Indians, who face Romanian duo Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu in the first round, would have the advantage of having played a match here before the scheduled clash. As top seeds, the Australians have a bye into the second round. "We just have to be ready," Woodforde said. "But I'm sure if we can get by the Indians, things might be a little bit easier for us. Like the Indians, the Woodies have a lot of expectations riding on them and Woodforde, who retires at the end of the year, admits that is an extra burden to carry. "Todd and I have played with a lot of pressure on our shoulders for a number of years now playing for our country. It's like, "Hey, it's the Woodies, they are going to win, its one-nil already.' "It's nice to be relied on in that sense but you have got to be ready. A lot of people do take us for granted. "When you are the world's best there is a target on your back, everyone wants to beat you, they want to knock you off. Sometimes that can be a bit of a heavy weight on your shoulders."
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