Leander Paes had more support than Mahesh Bhupathi in Davis Cup team: Somdev Devvarman

Former Indian tennis player Somdev Devvarman is known to be a vocal player who has always spoken about relevant issues. Even now, the player has been constantly speaking out against police brutality in India. Somdev Devvarman has also opened up on the Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi controversy, while also singling out the All India Tennis Association (AITA) for their inefficiency.

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Somdev Devvarman speaks out on the Leander Paes Mahesh Bhupathi fall out

In an interview with the Indian Express, Somdev Devvarman gave his views on a variety of topics. One of those topics revolved around the Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi relationship and how it impacted the Indian Davis Cup team. Recalling the situation before the Davis Cup ties in February 2008, Devvarman revealed that Leander Paes faced a rebellion within the team with Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Prakash Amritraj claiming they didn’t want Paes as the captain. The former tennis player said since he was just a college student at that time, he asked to be left out of any potential fight.

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The former tennis player added that after the tie against Uzbekistan, the players refused to play with Leander Paes. Somdev Devvarman also shared how he saw that the entire David Cup team was a Leander Paes team when joined the team at the end of 2008 and played a tie against Chinese Taipei in 2009.

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Expanding more on his statements, Somdev Devvarman said that while he has great respect for Leander Paes’s father Vece Paes, there were some things he felt that wasn’t fairly done. The 35-year-old went on to say that Sanjay Singh as Paes’s trainer and team masseuse was a problem because he wasn’t a physio. This meant that if Devvarman turned his knee or his shoulder, there would be a problem as he would need a physio and not a masseuse.

Building on the same, the player explained further that he also observed that coach Nandal Bal always used to be on the Leander Paes side when it came to choosing between the Leander Paes-Mahesh Bhupathi camp. He said that as Vece Paes served as the team doctor and Sanjay Singh was the team masseuse, he could see things weren’t being done fairly and he had spoken out against it after two or three matches.

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While concluding his views on the topic of the Paes Bhupathi fight, Devvarman said that while he’s not pro-Mahesh Bhupathi or pro-Leander Paes, it was clear that changes had to be made. The player also said that if in the Paes Bhupathi fight, everyone sided with Leander Paes, it would create a rift in the team. In addition to speaking on the Paes Bhupathi fight controversy, the player also reserved some harsh words for AITA. During the interview, Somdev Devvarman talked about how several players were sick and tired of AITA’s behaviour and the lack of transparency in the body.

Image Courtesy: PTI