Leander Paes, the quintessential Indian tennis showman with a host of enviable achievements

For more than two and a half decades during his playing career, Leander Paes resembled the quintessential showman. He basked in the spotlight, brought emotion and theater on the field as he sprinted between the lines, dived at full length to put the bat on the ball, chest-bumped his teammates and fans.

However, unlike many showman, Leander does not have a star next to his name. His story is not one of wasted potential, but rather a pejorative term used to describe the likes of Nick Kyrgios, a doubles champion and Wimbledon singles finalist. In Leanders’ pint-sized frame, 510 small by today’s tennis standards, rested a genius tennis player who has won 18 Grand Slam titles (eight in doubles, 10 in mixed doubles), 54 career doubles titles, a record 45 Davis Cup doubles victories. and an individual singles Olympic medal.

The Indian tennis legend turned 50 on Saturday and until March 2020, when COVID-19 struck, had his sights set on an eighth Olympic appearance in Tokyo and had also branded the months leading up to the showpiece event as One Last Roar. custom-made T-shirts and video camera included. In late 2021, he even entered the political arena in Goa, but not much came of it. But he remains in the limelight because he has never officially retired and keeps his political cards close to his chest. Like most showmen, he writes his own rules.

Leanders stock was built largely through his efforts in the mid-to-late 1990s, which continued well into the second decade of the millennium. It was a time when the newly liberated India had its first brush with professionalizing the sport and it was Leander, Sachin Tendulkar and Viswanathan Anand who were tasked with showing that Indian sport could stand shoulder to shoulder with others. of the world.

A bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he defeated Brazil’s Fernando Meligen in a play-off, was symbolic of this, as he was the first individual medalist from India since KD Jadhav secured third place in wrestling in 1952. Helsinki Games.

Leander Paes stands on the podium after winning the bronze medal in the men’s singles tennis competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. | Photo credit: Getty Images

Unparalleled passion

He played the Davis Cup in India with unparalleled enthusiasm, criss-crossing continents and adapting to different conditions and time zones. At the time, premiership singles and doubles were best-of-five series affairs, and Leander played both singles and doubles, meaning three energy-sapping matches in three days. Some of his most famous singles victories came against the French duo of Arnaud Boetsch and Henri Leconte in the quarter-finals in 1993, while South African Wayne Ferreira in 1994 and Croatian Goran Ivanisevic in 1995.

We played France on clay and it was one of his best performances in Davis Cup, Ramesh Krishnan, Leanders teammate in that 1993 tie, told Sportstar. He won both of his singles matches which was fantastic. He was charged up and able to rise to the occasion and consistently play above himself. It also suited his temperament for one match on the main court with all the attention. He wanted a bigger opportunity.

This temperament was also reflected in his tennis style. In a format like doubles where the points are short, a big serve or crushing forehand is absolutely essential. Leander had neither. In his famous victory over Pete Sampras in New Haven in 1998, he hit an astonishing seven aces to the American’s four, but his serve was merely the starting point for his career at the net where he was a champion.

His volleys were first rate and the ball refused to rise and died instantly as if caught in a spider web. He could cover the net despite not having a huge wingspan, and he could poach like no other. In the latter side, he was a bit like Mohammed Azharuddin on the cricket field, whose fielding technique was built on business economics. Both men would be in the right place at the right time and their expectations would diverge.

Bhupathi right foil

In the tall and powerful Mahesh Bhupathi, Leander found the right court for this game and together they created history by winning three Major tournaments, including the French Open and Wimbledon doubles in 1999. In the Davis Cup, they played 27 draws as a pair. a whopping 25 of which ended in victory, placing them fourth on the all-time list.

Leanders’ court craftsmanship found artistic expression in mixed doubles. The elegant format only exists in Grand Slam events and competitions such as the Olympics and the Asian Games. Its more hits and misses and every pair is more or less a scratch pair. But he won the Australian Open and Wimbledon with the iconic Martina Navratilova in 2003 when she was 46.

And with Martina Hingis, he won all four Majors in 18 months, including the last at the 2016 French Open. It capped Leander’s magnificent Slam winning streak that had started way back in 1999 when he tasted victory for the first time in Paris with Bhupathi.

Lee played at a very high level for a very long time, Somdev Devvarman told Sportstar. The electricity he played with, the fact that he played singles, was top 100 in singles and obviously had a slam win in doubles – those are the things that drew me to him as a young player. The energy he came out with, the quick hands, the volleys, the speed, the fire and the fact that he got the crowd going.

For all his achievements, Leanders did not have a spotless career. Valina wrangles ahead of quadrennial events like the Olympics and the Asian Games, and her infamous clashes with Bhupathi cast a negative light on Indian tennis. The latest was in the 2017 Davis Cup against Uzbekistan in Bengaluru when Bhupathi, as captain, dropped Leander and the latter left after the first day of the tie.

Still honey

But in the eyes of the public, he was and still is a darling who almost always won the perception battle. Perhaps this is because he is a charismatic and magnetic personality who can lift even the harshest conditions.

In those tears that rolled down his cheek when the national anthem was sung, sealed his patriotism test, the wonderful books he conjured will be closed, the library will be closed soon, he said in his last appearance at Tata Open Maharashtra in 2020. hit him in the press.

He wanted attention from start to finish, but he had the achievements to back it up. Leander could simultaneously reject and enchant. The quintessential showman he really was.