NEW DELHI, Jan 13: Leander Paes' ATP singles ranking has fallen from 114 to 122 while new hope Prahlad Srinath has worked his way up from 611 to 605 according to the latest ATP list. Meanwhile, Mahesh Bhupathi has also improved from 228 to 222.But Bhupathi and Paes (242 pts) start off the year as the World's No 2 doubles team with only Eagle and Florent (254 pts) ahead of them. In the individual doubles rankings, Bhupathi at No 8, is ahead of Paes as usual, who is at No 10. Rick Leach, a former World No 1 doubles player separates the Indian duo at No 9 with 2630 points.
Meanwhile, Srinath's improving ranking, especially after the All India Tennis Association announced that the Davis Cup team will be selected on the basis of rankings, and will not hold trials, is a significant statement in his bid to fill the third slot in the Indian team.
After Srinath's 605, the next highest ranking belongs to Gaurav Natekar at 910. Beyond the four figure mark are many more Indians. Sandeep Kirtane, a member of the
1997 Davis Cup team is at 1286, Akash Lamba and Vikram Venkatraghavan are tied at 1293, while Sandeep's cousin Nitin is tied with Vasudeva Reddy at the 1338 slot. Harsh Mankad is the last Indian entry at 1051.
Oleg Ogorodov of Uzbekistan, who remains the main threat to Leander's reputation as Asia No 1, lags about 20 places behind Paes at 142.With the Kirtane cousins -- Nitin and Sandeep not having found a sponsor yet, and Srinath's plans to play on the European circuit, the trend looks favourable for the 23 year old Karnataka clay courter right now.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
