Leander Paes has pulled out of the crucial World Group play-off tie against South Africa due to shoulder and elbow injuries.

The doubles star sustained the injuries during the just-concluded US Open championships where he won the men's doubles trophy and ended runner-up in the mixed doubles event.

"I want to better my Olympic bronze"

Now Rohan Bopanna will have an added burden of playing in the doubles rubber with Mahesh Bhupathi apart from playing the second singles.

In the changed circumstances, it will be interesting to see if non-playing captain SP Misra hands Yuki Bhambri his Davis Cup cap.

"It's a tough decision for me but I don't want to be a liability on team rather than an asset. But this team is excellent and the boys are capable of pulling this tie," Paes said.

Akhtar Ali, national selector said, "Leander informed us yesterday that he will not play the tie. But I think Rohan is a capable doubles player, so there should not be any problem.

But (Wesley) Moodie is a top player so it makes the doubles rubber tough now for India.

Paes unchanged, Sania rises in rankings

A 10th Grand Slam title at the US Open didn't make any difference to Leander Paes' ATP rankings as he remained eighth in the doubles list but Sania Mirza moved up in the WTA charts despite a disastrous outing at the Flushing Meadows.

Paes was steady at the eighth spot with 6710 points while his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy ended up losing a place to be seventh in the latest list.

Paes' estranged partner Mahesh Bhupathi, who lost to him in the US Open men's doubles final, gained a spot to be sixth this week.

Bhupathi's Bahamian partner Mark Knowles was unchanged at the fifth position.

In the ATP singles rankings, rising star Somdev Devvarman entered the top-150, rising 29 places for the 133rd spot this week.

Somdev benefited from his gutsy show at the US Open, where he entered as a qualifier before bowing out in the second round.

In the WTA list, Sania surged 11 places to 63rd in the singles despite her second-round exit from the US Open.

She improved to 41st in the doubles chart with 2105 points.