The Hindu : Leander on the right track

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 04, 2003

Sport

Sport - Tennis

Leander on the right track

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI MARCH 3. Champions cannot be kept down for long. They soon spring to life, even when they go through bad spells in their career.

Leander Paes, the torchbearer of Indian tennis, has signalled an interesting season ahead for himself, by clinching his 25th career doubles title in Dubai on Sunday.

It was indeed a memorable triumph for the 29-year-old Leander when he captured the Australian Open mixed doubles title earlier in the season with the legendary Martina Navratilova. In fact, the Australian Open was one title that the Indians had not been able to capture, with Leander having failed at that even as a junior when he lost the singles final.

Yet, for the regular followers of the sport, who had seen Leander struggle the whole of last year, the title in Dubai that helped him collect a welcome $30,000 as his share, must be a huge relief.

For, Leander had not won a title after the 22nd career title with Mahesh Bhupathi in Mallorca, Spain, in May last year. Of course, we are not counting the Asian Games doubles title he won with Mahesh in Busan.

On the professional tour, Leander had a tough time, shuffling between one bad partner to another in 2002, when all he had to show was the semifinal appearance at the French Open with Tomas Cibulec of the Czech Republic. His earnings on the Tour hit an all time low, as he collected prize money worth $141,297, for the season. For someone, who had won nearly $3 million on the Tour after having turned professional in 1991, it was indeed a hard pinch for Leander.

On the other hand, Mahesh who had taken the decision to part ways with Leander after a spell of bad run when the duo won one round in all from three tournaments in Memphis, San Jose and Delray Beach, did exceptionally well in 2002. Mahesh won the Tennis Masters event in Hamburg with Jan-Michael Gambill of the US, and the US Open with Max Mirnyi of Belarus. He also won Long Island with Mike Bryan of the US, and made the final of Queen's, Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Madrid apart from the semifinals in Auckland, Estoril and Rolland Garros.

Mahesh collected $489,224 for the season, and that did not include the prize money for winning the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with Elena Likhovtseva of Russia.

The 28-year-old Mahesh finished the year at No. 4 in the individual doubles ranking while Leander had to grapple with reality with a year-end ranking of 33. That also meant that Leander was restricted to two inches of space in the 2003 ATP official guide, for the first time in more than a decade. From two pages of details, that talked about his Grand Slam achievements among others, it was indeed a fall for a champion.

Having changed his racquet, after trying his partner David Rikl's racquet during the Australian Open with considerable success, and having been thoroughly inspired by the evergreen Martina Navratilova, Leander seems to have hit the road to the titles once again. That is the good news for Indian tennis.

It looks at the moment that Mahesh is having a tough time on the tour, as he has not done that well with Joshua Eagle of Australia so far. He did make the final in Sydney with Eagle, but it was with Todd Woodbridge in Chennai and Max Mirnyi in Dubai that Mahesh has made the semifinals this season. Mahesh will be looking for his 27th title, as he starts as the top seed with Eagle in the $380,000 ATP Tour event in Delray Beach, Florida. Leander is partnering Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and has a tough first round against the second-seeded David Adams and Robbie Koenig of South Africa in the same tournament.

Leander and Mahesh have vowed to fight for the gold in the Olympics in Athens next year. For some of us who are worried about their mutual mistrust, the camaraderie they show during Davis Cup is seen to be believed. But then, unlike in the events when the country's pride is at stake, it is their own individual salary that gets affected with their decisions, professional or otherwise, when Leander and Mahesh go their own ways on the Tour.

Whatever be their decision, there is no doubt that Leander and Mahesh are two of the best champions we have in Indian sports. They used to provide joy with their deeds as a dynamic combination earlier, as they won 22 titles from 31 finals, but they seem to be doing so by turns of late.

Leander has 25 titles including four in Grand Slams, from 36 finals. He also has two mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. Mahesh has 27 titles including four Grand Slam titles from 44 finals. He has three mixed doubles titles as well.

If you look at the last three Grand Slams, an Indian has won at least one title in each of them. Two by Mahesh, and one by Leander.

Whose turn is it next ?

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport