New Delhi: Indian tennis mavin Leander Paes
dished out yet another virtuoso performance to win the US Open
men's doubles trophy, taking his Grand Slam tally to 10, but
his taste for success is far from being cloyed.
He is India's most decorated tennis star and has
achieved almost everything a player can dream of -- 10 Grand
Slam titles, an Olympic medal, Asian medals, most Davis Cup
wins, a Khel Ratna award, Padmashree award -- yet Paes craves
for one more thing.
"I still want to better my Olympic bronze," Paes told reporters
in an interview after winning the US Open men's doubles title
partnering Czech Lukas Dlouhy on Sunday.
"Doing well at the 2010 Asian and Commonwealth Games are
immediate targets for next year," he added.
Paes had ended India's four-decade long wait when he won
a bronze during Atlanta Olympics in 1996. It was India's first
individual medal at Olympics since KD Jadhav's wrestling
bronze in Helsinki Olympics in 1952.
Paes has a coruscating cupboard, which now boasts of 41
trophies including six men's doubles and four mixed doubles
Grand Slam crowns but he is not content with basking in past
glory.
"After a while titles and honours become a bit of a blur.
What one craves for is to be able to give back to the game in
a manner that makes a difference for future players.”
"I am already looking at life beyond tennis and would
like to be involved in grooming the next generation of players
from India. My dream for the future is many more players from
India in the main draw of Grand Slams. That too, not in
doubles alone," Paes said.
Paes is already 36 and by the time he competes in the
2012 London Olympics, he would be nearing 40.
The body would not be the same after playing for 18 years
but he is still going strong. Paes is a regular in top-10 of
the ATP doubles ranking list. So what is it that keeps him
going?
"Discipline, consistent hard work off the court and a
healthy lifestyle are key to my fitness. I don't smoke or
drink, am careful about what I eat and stay committed to a
strenuous off-season training programme which keeps me Tour
ready year after year.”
"I carry my gym with me in my bag and I still workout
every single day. I have also been very careful about nursing
my body when I have been injured and going through extensive
rehab to ensure I am fully fit when I take court again."
Asked for how long he can maintain such a high fitness
level, he said, "As of now my goal is the London Olympics. As
long as I keep enjoying my tennis and even more importantly my
off-court fitness regime -– for you are nothing on court if
you have not put in the sweat and toil preparing for it – I
will keep at it," he said.
Talking about the final match in which he and Dlouhy
staged a remarkable comeback after being a set and 0-2 down
against compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi and Mark Knowles, Paes
credited his partner for the win.
"We went into the match fired up but they were really
playing well and did not offer us much of a chance in the
beginning. Lukas was really fired up from the moment he went
into the second set and actually told me that he wanted to
start the set and take the pressure off me.”
"He was the leader out there and instead of me saying
much to him it was actually he doing a lot of the talking. It
was a pleasant change. He told me, 'you just be solid with me
today, and I'm just gonna take over and do it for you.' And he
did," he said.
Paes had a great chance to win two titles but faltered in
the mixed doubles final along with Cara Black, who looked
off-colour that day. Paes, however, refused to blame his
Zimbabwean teammate for the loss.
"Things are never as simple as they seem to be in
professional sport. Cara was not the weak link or any such
thing. To be honest our opponents played a great match. Let's
give them credit for that," he said.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 12:58