One last roar: Emotional scenes as Leander Paes' loses swansong ATP Tour match at home | Bengaluru Open
Leander Paes' final ATP Tour match in India ended on a disappointing note as he and his partner Matthew Ebden lost to Indian pair of Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan in the men's doubles final of the Bengaluru Open here on Saturday.
Veteran Leander Paes' final ATP Tour match on home soil ended on a disappointing note as he and his partner Matthew Ebden lost to Indian pair of Purav Raja and Ramkumar Ramanathan in the men's doubles final of the Bengaluru Open here on Saturday. (Photo |
Paes, who is playing his final year of professional tennis, and his Australian partner Ebden were no match for their rivals, losing 0-6 3-6 in the summit clash that lasted just 56 minutes. (Photo | PTI)
'The fact that I've played my last match in India - it sunk in after the match when I was signing autographs. A young girl - must have been five or six years old - gave me a 'One Last Roar' t-shirt which was twice her size,' he said. (Photo | PTI)
'And when I signed the t-shirt and gave it to her, she turned around and said 'Bye'. She said bye. That's a great way to go,' Paes added. (Photo | PTI)
Paes, 46, and Ebden had qualified for the final after beating third seeds Andre Goransson of Sweden and Indonesia's Christopher Rungkat 7-5 0-6 10-7 in the semifinals. (Photo | PTI)
Raja and Ramanathan, on the other hand, entered the last-four round after Saketh Myneni and Matt Reid of Australia conceded the other semifinal contest. (Photo | PTI)
After the defeat, an emotional Paes said he will miss the massive support from the home crowd. (Photo | PTI)
