Set for aces off court

As Leander Paes bids adieu to tennis, he hopes his daughter turns out to be an Olympian as well
(From left) Reshma Millet, Ashwini Nachappa and Leander Paes at the Bangalore Open at Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association  Shriram BN
(From left) Reshma Millet, Ashwini Nachappa and Leander Paes at the Bangalore Open at Karnataka State Lawn Tennis Association  Shriram BN

CHENNAI: Watching Leander Paes strike hard on the tennis court has never been less than a treat, but this time, it was an emotional one. At the recent Bangalore Open, Paes played his last professional match on the Indian soil last Sunday. He may have lost the finals, but as Paes said, “Losing and feeling terrible is part of every sportsman’s life.” Speaking about hanging up his boots, he said he loves tennis and calls it the most constant thing in this life. “I might be out of playing tennis matches professionally, but there are a lot of things that are coming up my way, which is going to keep me busy. Currently, I am working on my autobiography and there is much when it comes to the business side to this game, which is extremely interesting,” says Paes, who has 18 Grand Slam titles to his credit.  Looking back at his days in tennis, he had some striking partnership matches with Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis, Mahesh Bhupathi, and Rodik Stephanie, to name a few.

It’s incomplete to round up Paes’ tennis life without talking about his relationship with Bhupathi. Indian Express, as they were popularly known, were the first Indians to win a doubles event at a Grand Slam in 1999. “Our relationship started in 1991 when both of us were part of the Junior Wimbledon. Since I was still playing the finals (which he later won) and had a place to stay, Mahesh asked if he could join me. But we had only one badge, which was mine, to enter the Wimbledon premises. So, I would enter the premises and walk 20 yards away from the gate and toss the badge across the wall, then he would enter the gate. It played to our advantage that we looked similar but he was definitely the better looking one,” recalls Paes. Since he was the only one to have food allowance on his badge, they used to share a single meal and have the ‘best strawberry and cream’ from the Wimbledon canteen.

Bhupathi used to live in Muscat then, while Paes lived in Chennai but they built a bond which Paes says still continues. “The reason I partnered with him was because I had a vision that two Indian boys could take on the world of tennis and had the ability to win Wimbledon,” he said. In 1999, the pair went on to play all the four Grand Slams, and won the Wimbeldon and French Open titles. He said, “I wouldn’t have been as great a doubles’ player without a partner like Mahesh.” Forty-six-year-old Paes, whose achievement has been an example to many young tennis aspirants, said, “India is a country where most kids usually make a mark in academics. In sports, it’s nice to see young girls like Saina Nehwal, PV Sindhu, and Sania Mirza, who are showing the world that Indian women can go out there and conquer the world.” His hopes that his 13-year-old daughter Aiyanna will turn out to be the third generation Olympian in his family.

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