Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi were not at their best but still proved to be good enough to clinch the doubles rubber and give India an unassailable 3-0 lead against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group 1 second round tennis tie at the Jai Club in Jaipur on Saturday.
The former world number one pair with three Grand Slam titles under their belt, looked flat throughout and laboured their way to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win against Murad Inoyatov and Denis Istomin to put India through to the World Group play-off in September.
Luckily for Paes and Bhupathi, the estranged friends who play with different partners on the ATP Tour and come together for team events, the Uzbek pair struggled to come to terms with the grass courts and never really posed a serious challenge to them.
The visitors had their upperhand when they pounced on Bhupathi's serve in the fourth game of second set, when the Indians seemed to relax and take the foot off the accelerator.
But Paes and Bhupathi quickly broke back and although the third set saw Inoyatov and Istomin come up with some solid serving and booming returns, their experienced rivals stepped on the gas at the right time to seal the issue.
"Certainly we did not play our best tennis, just adequate enough to come through," Paes said after the match.
"The opponents were not that highly experienced and when we went into the match we didn't have in mind of playing any fancy but solid tennis.
"We looked at it as another day in the office... it was a smooth sailing."
The victory meant Paes equalled Brazilian Tomas Koch's record of 74 wins to be joint eighth in the all-time Davis Cup list. But he is still four singles wins behind Ramanathan Krishnan who has a 50-19 win-loss record among the Indians.
Paes said he would definitely have his personal milestone in mind when he decides the combination for the reverse singles tomorrow.
"Harsh [Mankad] is ready to play," he said of the dilemma he was in.
"Of course it [the record] is in mind. The captain has a responsibility to the team but it also my own prerogative to rewrite history books.
"The record is not something that a modern player can think of. Davis Cup is my special stage," he said.
The Indians got an early break when an erratic serving Istomin served four double faults, including three on the trot, in the second game.
Paes' serve came under pressure in the sixth game when he was forced to save three break points before the first set was taken in 29 minutes.
But with the sun coming out in full, the surface played true and the bounce more reliable than it had been on the first day. That helped Istomin to play his forehands from the baseline and the Uzbek came up with some good returns as the Uzbeks kept pace with the Indians in the second set.
Inoyatov dropped serve in the third game with a double fault but Bhupathi's tentative serving and net play meant the visitors were immediately back on level scores.
Istomin saved two break points in the fifth game before Paes and Bhupathi mustered that much inspiration to raise their game a notch to find a break in the seventh game to go up 4-3.
It was only in the decider that Inoyatov and Istomin put up a semblance of a fight, the latter once again saving three break points.
The Indians were still looking like dead men walking, playing mostly from muscle memory. But sheer experience and the knowledge of having been the number one helped them force three more break points in the ninth game, and Bhupathi closed it out with a stunning return winner.
Bhupathi then comfortably served out the match, finishing it off with an ace.
India now have a fair chance of playing their play-off ties at home as they are due to play one of the eight World Group first round losers.
Out of the eight losers, India would play either at home against one of the five losers or away against any of the two teams. If they play the eighth team, the venue would be decided by toss.
