Guts and glory

Published : Sep 13, 2008 00:00 IST

Leander Paes and Cara Black with the US Open mixed doubles trophy.-PTI
Leander Paes and Cara Black with the US Open mixed doubles trophy.-PTI
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Leander Paes and Cara Black with the US Open mixed doubles trophy.-PTI

The mixed doubles victory at the US Open gave Paes his eighth Grand Slam title from 17 finals. This was his fourth mixed doubles title. He had won two at Wimbledon, with Lisa Raymond in 1999 and Martina Navratilova in 2003. He had also won the Australian Open with Navratilova in 2003. Here is an appreciation by Kamesh Srinivasan.

Leander Paes takes a fresh guard after every Olympics. The 35-year-old Paes, the Atlanta Games singles bronze medallist, has taken part in five Olympics on the trot, from the Barcelona Games in 1992, and is now looking eager to stretch his career unto London 2012. Why not! The man is hungry and is embracing success with both hands.

His daughter Aiyana is a big fan of his and that makes him happy and thrilled while playing.

Leander Paes is a delight to watch when on court. The disappointment of losing to an inspired Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka in the doubles quarterfinals, in the Beijing Games, was pushed aside as a bad memory. This was evident when Paes, along with Cara Black of Zimbabwe, won the mixed doubles title in the US Open. Later he and Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic finished runner-up in the men’s doubles.

The mixed doubles victory at the US Open gave Paes his eighth Grand Slam title from 17 finals. This was his fourth mixed doubles title. He had won two at Wimbledon, with Lisa Raymond in 1999 and Martina Navratilova in 2003. He had also won the Australian Open with Navratilova in 2003.

Paes and Cara were at their best against the formidable Jamie Murray of Britain and Liezel Huber of the US. Paes was honest in showering praise on his partner, Cara.

“I think she won the match for us. At 6-4 in the tie-break, she made an unbelievable reflex volley to break the guy’s serve. At 6-5 on the second serve, I couldn’t get to the ball, and she made another unbelievable forehand volley up the line. Cara really broke back and won that set for us.” said Paes, as he recalled the key moments of the first set, at the post-match press conference.

“The real joy for me is to find a partner who is positive, professional and no matter what the score is, is giving her best effort,” said Paes, acknowledging the stellar role played by Cara in the dramatic triumph. Cara was equally profuse in praising Paes, the magician at the net.

“Leander was great. He was getting it back for me all the time. You are not going to find anyone with quicker hands and such magic flying around the court. It is such a joy to play with him,” said Cara, even as the two decided to stick together for the next season as well.

Paes will be looking forward to winning the French Open mixed doubles title, as that is missing from his collection, though he had won two men’s doubles titles with Mahesh Bhupathi at the Roland Garros. Equally, he will be keen to start the season well at the Australian Open, as he has lost three doubles finals there, and is still to win the men’s doubles title to complete the career Grand Slam.

With over 80 titles between them in the professional doubles circuit, Paes and Cara were able to provide a spectacular show on their way to a 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory in the final. It was not a surprise that the two, seeded fifth, did not drop a set in the whole tournament.

The triumph was sweet for Cara, the world No.1 doubles star. She has not won a Grand Slam mixed doubles title after winning the Wimbledon with her brother Wayne Black in 2004. She had also won the French Open with Wayne Black in 2002.

In 1999, Paes won both the men’s and mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon and this time, at the US Open, it looked that Paes would repeat that feat. But in the end it was not to be when he and Lukas Dlouhy lost to the second-seeded Bryan twins, Bob and Mike, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (10), in the final.

“This ranks as one of our top achievements, especially playing against those guys,” said Mike Bryan, after the triumph in the final.

Bob was all praise for Paes, in particular.

“Leander was magical, as always. In a big match, you know he is always going to bring his best stuff. He was hitting some crazy shots, and Lukas was ripping away. We had to play our best stuff to beat those guys,” said Bob.

It was the fifth time that Paes had lost a doubles final at the US Open. He had, of course, won the men’s doubles title with Martin Damm of the Czech Republic in 2006, beating Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Max Mirnyi of Belarus.

How long does he intend to continue?

“At 35, I am just blessed to have such a great career. I am blessed to have a team of people,” he said.

“It is fairly simple for me. If I wake up 31 days in a row in the morning and I feel like I don’t enjoy this game, I will stop on the 32nd day. That has always been the way for me,” he said.

Probably, Martina Navratilova showed him that age is no barrier. Paes knows that he has to just take great care of his body and there is no doubt that there is still a lot of tennis left in him.

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