The adage in Indian sports, other than in cricket, goes thus: its leading practitioners have succeeded not because of the system, but despite it. A Viswanathan Anand or an Abhinav Bindra stands testimony to this. So does the tennis duo of Leander Paes and Sania Mirza, who won the U.S. Open mixed doubles and doubles crowns, their 17th and fifth Major titles respectively, in the company of former singles World No. 1 Martina Hingis. It is easy to dismiss these victories as nothing extraordinary. In fact, it is true that doubles as a format is on life-support. The Bryan brothers are famous, but how many know the second-best team of Horia Tecau and Jean-Julien Rojer? On the women’s side it has taken the Williams sisters and now Hingis to give it a fillip. It is also true that singles players are the ones who have revolutionised tennis: like a Li Na in China or a Kei Nishikori in Japan. In the Indian context it is a potent argument to make, particularly when the country is struggling to produce top-100 singles players. As for mixed doubles, it rarely exists outside the Grand Slams.
Yet, it would be remiss not to celebrate the success stories of Paes and Mirza. The 28-year-old Mirza’s story has been, as the title of her upcoming autobiography puts it, Against All Odds. She is the first Indian woman to win a WTA tournament, the first to be ranked inside the top-30, the first to win a Grand Slam of any kind, and the first to reach the top of world rankings. The last of these came in April this year when she became the No. 1-ranked doubles player, a position she still holds. As an 18-year-old in 2005 she reached the fourth round at the U.S. Open – her best-ever singles finish. Along the way she beat Marion Bartoli – a later-year Wimbledon champion – on the second biggest show court there, the Louis Armstrong stadium. These are the things racquet-wielding young women in India dream of. On the other hand, the 42-year-old Paes has been giving longevity a whole new meaning. With age, a sportsperson is often bogged down by an increasing set of limitations. He also has to make sense of the advancements around him. Paes has not reached a Grand Slam doubles final in two years. But his competitive zeal and persistence even when the mind and the body no longer always act in sync have fetched him three Major mixed doubles titles this year. In a way this has been the essence of the latest U.S. Open – of an epilogue being as good as the book. Be it for Paes or for Mirza, for Roger Federer or for Serena Williams, or for the two Italians in Flavia Pennetta and Roberta Vinci.
