Paes was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024. Paes joined the Board of Directors of Olympic Gold Quest, co-founded by Geet Sethi and Prakash Padukone to support talented Indian athletes to win medals at the Olympics. Paes created many memorable doubles partnerships, including those with Mahesh Bhupathi, Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova. He won multiple Grand Slams with each of these partners, and some of the rallies he produced in combination with these legends have attained almost mythical status. Paes’ consistency and power from the baseline could be considered his weaknesses, especially in singles. He doesn’t strike the ball with as much spin and depth as most modern baseliners do, which puts him at a disadvantage while defending.
Olympic medal matches
As No. 7 seed with Klaasen in men’s doubles, Paes lost to eventual champions Bolelli/Fognini in the second round. Leander Paes is an Indian tennis player whose incredible success in doubles and mixed doubles have made him a household name all over the world. Born to sportspersons Vece and Jennifer Paes in Kolkata on June 17, 1973, Leander Paes was educated at La Martiniere, Calcutta; Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School and St. Xavier’s College of the University of Calcutta. Having sports champions in the family gave young Leander, who began playing tennis at the age of 5, the right guidance, support, besides instilling in him discipline and passion for sport. In 1985, he joined the Britannia Amritraj Tennis Academy in Madras (Chennai).
Leander Paes is associated with which among the following sports?
In doubles, the Indian is an expert at ‘poaching’ the ball at the net. He has achieved remarkable success by taking time away from the opponents through his reflex drop volleys. He rarely trades groundstrokes from the back of the court, and almost never hits a topspin backhand; he prefers to slice off that wing. In 2001 Paes and Bhupathi were awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest civilian honors.
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- He is also a direct descendant of the 19th century Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta from his maternal side.
- Paes was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2024.
- Leander was born in Kolkata to Vece Paes, member of the bronze medal-winning Indian field hockey team, and Jennifer Paes, captain of the Indian basketball team in the 1980 Asian Basketball Championship.
- Born to sportspersons Vece and Jennifer Paes in Kolkata on June 17, 1973, Leander Paes was educated at La Martiniere, Calcutta; Madras Christian College Higher Secondary School and St. Xavier’s College of the University of Calcutta.
- Leander Paes’s father, Vece Paes, was member of the bronze medal-winning Indian hockey team at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
- Paes won the doubles title at all four Grand Slams with one win at Wimbledon (1999) and the Australian Open (2012), and three wins at the French Open (1999, 2001, 2009) and the US Open (2006, 2009, 2013).
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He is also a direct descendant of the 19th century Bengali poet Michael Madhusudan Dutta from his maternal side. Paes was part of India’s Davis Cup team from 1990 to 2021, often partnered with Mahesh Bhupathi. The pair were affectionately known as the “Indian Express” and set a record of the most consecutive wins at the Davis Cup with 24 victories from 1997 to 2010.
He is famous for his enthusiastic spirit and exuberant victory celebrations which show his never say die spirit as a sportsman. With age, he gradually started to focus more on men’s doubles and mixed doubles. He evolved himself to become one of best world class doubles players.
With his supersonic performances over past years, Paes has proved to the world that there is nothing impossible for a person who has a strong will to achieve success no matter how harsh life may be. The nation is really proud of its Tennis Ace-Leander Paes and hopes that his success streaks will always embellish its victory stats at the international stage. Paes had his share of controversies; his disagreements with fellow Indian players Mahesh Bhupathi, Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza adversely affected a couple of Indian campaigns at the Olympics.
They need to learn to respect a legend, who has achieved so much in his career. He should be an inspiration for them and can take the Indian tennis forward with his experience. Leander Paes is one of greatest sports legends in our country of all times. Leander Adrian Paes (/peɪs/ PAYSS; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player and the first Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time and holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup.[4] Paes won eight men’s doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He holds a career Grand Slam in men’s doubles and mixed doubles making him one of only three men in the Open era to achieve this distinction and won the rare men’s/mixed double at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships.
Leander was chosen to represent the country by bearing the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics in 2000. In 2001, they again bagged the title of French Open and were honoured with the prestigious civilian award “Padma Shri” by the Government of India. He competed in consecutive Olympics from 1992 to 2016,[7] making him the only tennis player to compete in seven Olympic Games.
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Singles: 1 (1 bronze medal)
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When he took the men’s singles tennis bronze medal at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, he became the first Indian athlete since 1952 to win an individual Olympic medal. Paes started his Davis Cup career in 1990, when he partnered Zeeshan Ali in doubles to beat the Japanese team in a five-set encounter. He played a key role on the Indian team that reached the World Group from 1991 to 1998. He was part of the Indian team that reached the semifinals 1993 with wins against the Switzerland and France, eventually losing to Australia.