Leander Paes should stick to thedeuce court and Sania Mirza should support him from the leftside with her "solid ground strokes" when they compete in themixed doubles event of the London Olympics, Indian teamcaptain S P Misra has suggested.
Sania's preferred court-side, like Paes, is the deuce(right side) and she is keen that she plays in Olympics fromthat side of the court.
The two players are yet to decide on the choice of thecourt side and work out a strategy for the big event.
The seven-member Indian tennis contingent will assemblein London on July 23.
Sania had played from the left side (advantage court) atthe 2010 Commonwealth Games and the duo had crashed out in thequarter-finals after losing to Scotland's Colin Fleming andJocelyn Rae.
But they were gold-medallists at the 2006 Doha AsianGames.
Misra, who is also the tennis team's leader at theOlympics, feels that Paes should continue to play from theright side.
"Sania has solid ground strokes. I feel she should playfrom the ad court. Sania returns well also, so she shouldsupport Leander from that side. Leander has always played fromthe deuce court and that is his strength," Misra told PTI.
"I have never seen Leander playing from the ad court. Hehas played with different partners in his career from MartinaNavratilova to Lisa Raymond to Elena Vesnina but he has alwaysplayed from right side," he added.
In the doubles competitions, the battle rages around the service return and the serve on most big points goes to the adcourt. So, a player who returns well should play the ad side.
Paes and Sania have not played together since the 2010CWG and when they had played at the Delhi Games, where theyplayed in each other's company after four years.
However, Misra said gelling well won't be a problem forthe two veterans although they will have only 4-5 days to doso.
"They are not newcomers. They have wealth of experiencebehind them. Paes has won 13 Grand Slam titles and Sania hasbeen playing doubles for so long. So I don't see a problem inthat," Misra said adding that "India have a good chance to wina medal in the mixed doubles."
The Davis Cup non-playing captain also felt that MaheshBhupathi and Rohan Bopanna too stand a good chance to win amedal for the country.
"They have done reasonably well on the tour. They have apoint to prove but they stand a good chance. They will beplaying against players, who are not regular partners on thetour. So, it can work to their advantage," he said.
"They were in top-10 recently and it's not a joke to bein that league. They are capable of pulling off a medal."