India’s Leander Paes topped the International Tennis Hall of Fame’s fan vote in his first year on the ballot. Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic finished second in the vote ahead of Spain’s Carlos Moya.
During the 10-day voting window, tens of thousands of fans representing 145 countries cast their ballots for candidates in the player category. Fans were able to vote for as many of the nominees they believed were deserving of tennis’ ultimate honour: induction into the Hall of Fame.
Fan voting is one of two steps in the Hall of Fame’s election process. In addition to the fan vote, an official voting group comprised of tennis journalists, historians, and Hall of Famers, vote on the Class of 2024 ballot.
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By winning the fan vote, Paes will receive an additional three percentage points added to his vote total. Ivanović will receive two additional percentage points, and Moya one additional point.
To be elected into the Hall of Fame, a candidate must receive an affirmative vote of 75% or higher on the combined results of the Official Voting Group and any bonus percentage points earned in the Fan Vote. Once voting is complete, the Class of 2024 will be announced later this fall.
Paes, Ivanovic and Moya join Zimbabwe’s Cara Black, Canada’s Daniel Nestor, and Italy’s Flavia Pennetta on the ballot in the player category. Vijay Amritraj and the United Kingdom’s Richard Evans are nominated in the contributor category, which is not considered part of fan voting and is determined by the official voting group only.
Earlier, Paes became the first Asian man and the first individual from India to be nominated for the Hall of Fame in the player category.
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The 50-year-old is a winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, including eight in doubles and 10 in mixed doubles, and is one of only three men in tennis history to achieve a career Grand Slam in both disciplines.
In doubles, the Kolkata-born player topped the world rankings for 37 weeks and spent an additional 462 weeks inside the top 10. Paes competed for India on the international stage for three decades, finishing his Davis Cup career as the record-holder for the most doubles tie victories (43). He competed in a record seven Olympic games, capturing the bronze medal in singles at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
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