New Delhi: Leander Paes has pulled out of the Davis Cup match against South Africa dealing a big blow to the country's hopes of making it to the World Group of the tournament.
Paes pulled out of the Davis Cup tie due to a shoulder injury. He saw a doctor in New York on Monday and underwent a scan on his shoulder just a day after winning his 10th Grand Slam title with his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy after defeating India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas in the US Open men's doubles final.
Fourth seeds Paes and Dlouhy scripted a sensational 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 win in the championship match over third seeds Bhupathi and Knowles.
The Indian tennis ace has been advised two weeks rest.
The South Africa match will be one of the few times in his career that Paes won't be part of a Davis Cup tie and the first in over a decade that he won't travel with the team.
The Davis Cup tie against South Africa gets underway on Friday near Johannesburg.
US Open men's doubles finalist Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna, Somdev Devvarman and Yuki Bhambri are the other members of the Indian squad.
Paes and Bhupathi have one of the best Davis Cup records in doubles and his absence could see the latter pairing up with Bopanna.
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