Leander Paes turns 50: History-maker at Olympics, Davis Cup legend and more

On the 50th birthday of Leander Paes, his former Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan, former Davis Cup teammates Somdev Devvarman and Vishnu Vardhan, and India’s top-ranked singles player Ankita Raina reflect on his career in a chat with Sportstar.

India’s Leander with his Olympic bronze medal after beating Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni at the Stone Mountain tennis center in Atlanta on August 4, 1996. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Leander Paes loves milestones. It all started with a historic bronze medal for India at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and ended in 2020 with 18 Grand Slams (men’s doubles and mixed doubles combined) to his name, while collecting one Davis Cup win after another on the way. The Calcutta-born tennis legend turned 50 on Saturday.

In a chat with Sportstar, his former Davis Cup captain Ramesh Krishnan, former Davis Cup teammates Somdev Devvarman and Vishnu Vardhan, and India’s top-ranked singles player Ankita Raina reflect on the career of Paes.

First meeting with Paes/Earliest memory of Paes

Ramesh Krishnan: The first time we met was when he was in the Davis Cup team and I rejoined. This was in 1991 in Jaipur. That was the first time we all got together as a team. He was a bundle of energy and we hit it off right from the beginning. Naresh Kumar was the captain. I was the senior player with Leander. We played all the matches. We were able to feed off each other’s strengths and it really worked well.

Somdev Devvarman: (The first time I met him was) Probably when I was 16 or 17 and he was already world famous. He had already won his bronze medal by that point. We were at DTLA in Delhi for a tournament. He was there to come and either hit with us or get a hit. We knocked a few balls around. 

Vishnu Vardhan: The first time I met him was in 2007. I had won the grasscourt Nationals that year and then, I was a part of the Davis Cup squad. I was just waiting for Leander to come in for his practice, and that’s when I met him the first time. I still have that picture with me and occasionally, I do share that picture with Leander as well. I have this huge smile on my face that I got a picture with Leander.  

Ankita Raina: My earliest memory is seeing him play the satellite event in Ahmedabad. They used to have a couple of satellite events in India. I don’t remember if I had started playing then. Probably I had. The events used to happen on the tennis courts at the academy right behind my house where I started playing the sport. All these players used to come there for the tournament. I remember probably going for his match with my parents, my brother and getting an autograph. 

On his Davis Cup exploits

Ramesh Krishnan: The Davis Cup tie in France (India beat France 3-2 in quarterfinals in Frejus, 1993). We were playing France on clay and it was one of his best performances in Davis Cup. He won both of his singles (against Henri Leconte and Arnaud Boetsch) which was fantastic. He was charged up. He was able to rise to the occasion and play above himself consistently. It also suited his temperament of one match on the main court with all the attention. He wanted the bigger occasion.

(Left) Ramesh Krishnan and Leander Paes (right) celebrate after Krishnan completed a five-set victory over Rodolphe Gilbert to give India 3-2 victory over France in theDavis Cup quarterfinal at Frejus on July 19, 1993. | Photo Credit: THE HINDU ARCHIVES

Somdev Devvarman: I remember a lot of lot of good ties. In 2014 (against Serbia in Bengaluru), they (Paes and Rohan Bopanna) were two sets and a break down. That’s a deep hole that you don’t want to be in and If I remember correctly, for the rest of the match, Rohan didn’t lose serve. That was a very important thing and Leander played magic. Some of the stuff he was pulling off. It was always really fun to watch him do that. He played incredible in the Brazil tie in Chennai in 2010. We were down 0-2. Mahesh and him, at that time were on a run of 24-25 (23) straight Davis Cup wins. And they beat Melo-Soares (Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares). Melo-Suarez, later on, became probably one of the top teams in the world. And they beat Melo-Suarez in straight sets like no tomorrow and that was actually the only tie in our history, if I remember correctly, that we won from 0-2 down. I think I lost on the first day. Rohan lost on the first day first, had four match points. I lost the second match. Both of us lost in five sets. Then, the boys won the doubles. I beat Bellucci (Thomaz Bellucci) as he retired after I was up a set and a break. His nose was bleeding, It was so hot in Chennai that year. Rohan came out and beat Ricardo Mello. 

CHENNAI, 20/09/2010: From left to right: Indian Davis Cup team members Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna, non-playing captain S.P. Mishra, Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi at a press conference in Chennai on September 19, 2010 after their 3-2 win over Brazil in the World Group play-off. | Photo Credit: R RAGU/THE HINDU

To be completely fair, I think some of Leander’s best ties were probably in the mid 90s and I’ve heard a lot about the Frejus tie when he was still playing singles.

Vishnu Vardhan: The tennis community knows that he brings out something really special when he’s playing for the country. Tennis is a completely individual sport but when playing for the country in Davis Cup or Asian games or Olympics and it becomes more like a team aspect. You’re playing for the nation. Not just for yourself and that brings out a lot of emotions in him. I still remember I had the opportunity to play alongside Leander before as well but in 2016, we were playing this Davis Cup tie against New Zealand in Pune. Just before the tie, you have the national anthem play. It gives you goosebumps, standing over there. It just brings out a lot of adrenaline. I was standing and Leander was beside me and I could see Leander in tears. I’m like, “Man! This guy is tearing up right now and we’re just going to play our doubles at that time.” How is he going to come back? How is he going to channelise that energy, get onto the tennis court and in just like five minutes after that he was all over the place. I still didn’t have many balls come up to me because he was at the net, finishing every single valley.

Ankita Raina: When you’re specifically representing your country and having India written on your back, it is a completely different emotion. I also remember some of his clips from. Davis Cup and you really get goosebumps. When I’m playing Fed Cup (Billie Jean King Cup), it’s a complete different feeling. I get that and understand the kind of pressure it brings because you’re playing for the country and that’s why, it gets the best out of you.

Paes and Olympics

Krishnan and Paes had lost in the men’s doubles quarterfinals of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and in that edition, both losing semifinalists received a bronze medal unlike the present-day format where there is a bronze-medal match. Four years later in Atlanta, Paes beat Brazil’s Fernando Meligeni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the bronze medal playoff to become India’s first and till date, the only Olympic medallist in tennis.

Ramesh Krishnan: That (1992 quarterfinal loss) probably helped him when he was playing in Atlanta. For me, that was the last time. That was my only chance and I was quite sad to let that slip. But as far as he was concerned, he was able to build on it. He was young enough.

Somdev Devvarman: Don’t remember if I watched the match live. I remember catching it on the news because it was all over the news, obviously, right? It was such a big deal. I was just 11. There was a lot of talk around it. The first few times that I feel like I was impacted by him was probably when he and Mahesh (Bhupathi) came to Chennai to play the Chennai Open. And I watched them play and I watched the whole buzz about what was happening with these Indian tennis players and then they won the title. That year (1999), they won the French Open, they won Wimbledon, they made finals of Australian Open and US Open.

FILE PHOTO: India’s Leander Paes (left) and Vishnu Vardhan (right) in men’s doubles action at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Vishnu Vardhan: 1996 was the year I actually started playing tennis. It was the same year when he won the Olympic medal. That was my first memory of Leander and I still remember, we were trying to copy what Leander was doing on court and was really excited to play the sport that he achieved so much in. (2012 London Olympics where I played doubles with Paes) was definitely a dream come true for me. Not just playing the Olympics, but playing alongside my childhood hero. Leander was ranked in the top ten in the world at that time and he had a choice to pick up his partner from the country. I was one of the top ranked players at the point and Leander and I’ve been in touch since 2008-09, the first time I actually met him during Davis Cup and not only just Leander, but his team as well, with his physical trainer, with his dad, Vece Uncle as well. He really felt that I had a big game to do well on the international circuit. And when he had the opportunity, he believed and trusted in my game and and Leander and his entire team, they made a proper plan of almost four months, leading up to the Olympic Games - the kind of tournaments that I’m going to play, the kind of training that I’m going to do. They made this plan and I gave my best performance at the at the Olympics partnering him. I got to learn a lot of things playing alongside him. One thing was how to handle pressure while you’re on on the tennis court. 

Ankita Raina: Olympic medal is one of my goals and I participated in the Tokyo Olympics. It is inspiring because he’s the only one who’s done it in tennis (for India), and that’s why he’s a legend. Of course, he has other achievements but Olympics comes after four years and (it is tough) to perform there in different kind of atmosphere and pressure. To be able to do that, the physical ability is there but (you also need) different kind of mental setup. 

On his longevity

Ramesh Krishnan: Can’t say I’m surprised (by the longevity of Paes’ career). I see so many people playing that long these days, especially. Main thing is he didn’t have any injuries, so that kept him going. At the same time, when you’re 18 or 19, it’s difficult to look that far ahead. In hindsight, it is quite good he looked after himself. He didn’t put on any weight, so he had a good long career.

Somdev Devvarman: I never dreamed about playing till I was 50. I thought I’d be doing other things and I am doing other things. Rohan’s obviously been playing for a long time and at the top of the game as well. Lee was playing at a very high level for a really long time. The electricity that he played with, the fact that he was playing singles, was top 100 in singles and obviously winning slams in doubles - those are the things that drew me to him as a young player. The energy that he came out with, the quick hands, the volleys, the speed, the fire and the fact that he got the crowd going. As far as playing till you’re 48-50 (is concerned), the ironic thing about this is I watched him play when I was like 14-15 and 10 years after that, I joined the Davis Cup team and he was the captain. Ten years after that, my career finished. And five years after that, he was still playing. I couldn’t have bet that was going to happen but kudos to him for pulling it off.

FILE PHOTO: India’s Rohan Bopanna (right) and Leander Paes (left) celebrate after winning doubles match in the Davis Cup tie against Croatia in Zagreb on March 7, 2020. | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Vishnu Vardhan: I’m still trying really hard to stay at my level and I’ll not deny that I’m not having thoughts that I should stop playing and look for other avenues but I still remember Leander telling me once that - once you’re a professional tennis player, you’re always a professional tennis player. He made sure that he kept his level for a really long time. And even though his last year on the professional circuit was cut short because of COVID, I was pretty confident that by the end of the year, he was finding his form. He started the year (2020) not so good but tournament after tournament, he was getting there and I was, as a fan, looking forward to him playing the Wimbledon and the US Open. Those two slams are one of his favorite slams and of course, the surface also suits his game, but it was really unfortunate that we couldn’t see him compete over there and and COVID hit and it was tough for him to continue it.

Ankita Raina: I really hope (to have a career as long as Paes). There can be a couple ways to look at it. One of it is the love for the sport and therefore, you keep going at it. Otherwise, there are a lot of challenges in terms of failures, setbacks and injuries. Especially in our sport, the mental, the physical and the emotional aspect - all have to come together. If you have a clear thinking and a thought process, you can manage. Slowly, other things will come along with time. Important thing is obviously being in good shape and physically fit.