Paes Won’t wait for the next Olympics and will consider Rio Olympics as his last


Paes Won’t wait for the next Olympics and will consider Rio Olympics as his last

Leander Paes EPS

If Tokyo Games next year won’t take place, Leander Paes, India’s tennis star has clarified that he will not wait another four year to make a record eighth Olympics appearance.

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Making him the only Indian feature in seven Olympic games, between 1992 and 2016, Paes has appeared at each Olympic event.
The 46 year old was keen to complete at the Tokyo Games, with the veteran tennis player announcing that 2020 would be his last year in professional tennis, which unfortunately moved to 2021.

Also Read: 5 Indian father-son duo who have graced Indian sports

During an Instagram live session, Paes told Purav raja, “If the Tokyo Olympics is cancelled, then I have already played my last Olympic in Rio. I’m not going to wait for the next Olympics.”

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During the lat 1990s, Paes formed a formidable partnership with Mahesh Bhupathi with both becoming the No.1 ranked doubles player and winning three Grand Slams together, along with this Paes is a winner of 18 Grand Slam titles, of which eight are doubles and ten are mixed doubles title.
Later on, most notably in Davis Cup matches, as the two last paired up in March, with Rohan Bopanna, Paes has several successful matches.

Paes added, “God, Mahesh had a killer backhand as an ad court player. It was world class but if I had to choose between two, I would definitely go for Rohan’s serve. His serve is one of the best I have seen on tour and it’s a weapon.”

Getting paired with Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Martina Navratilova of Czechoslovakia, the same way he has tasted unprecedented success as a double player, he has been equally impressive with mixed doubles.

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At the 2015, Australian Open, with Hingis, Paes captured his seventh Grand Slam mixed doubles crown and won the mixed double championship at Wimbledon 2015.

Defeating Sam Querrey and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets with Hingis, two months later Paes won the mixed doubles at the 2015 US.

Whereas with Navratilova, Paes won the 2003 Wimbledon and Australian Open when finishing runner-up at 2004 Australian Open and 2005 French Open.

Also Read: Leander Paes :The man who proved age is just a number

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Paes said of his former double partners, “Hingis complemented my style and I could play my natural game with her. She allowed me to be the leader and I could just take over the net. Navratilova, on the other hand, led me through and always guided me. She was the leader in my team.”