Rediff On The NeT: Paes dedicates Wimbledon titles to Kargil soldiers

0 Rediff On The NeT: Paes dedicates Wimbledon titles to Kargil soldiers


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July 9, 1999

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Paes dedicates Wimbledon titles to Kargil soldiers

Indian tennis ace Leander Paes has dedicated his Wimbledon doubles triumph to the Indian soldiers fighting in Kargil.

"I dedicated my first Grand Slam doubles title in the French Open to my partner Mahesh Bhupathi. Now, I dedicate the Wimbledon men's doubles and mixed doubles titles to our valiant soldiers fighting a battle to protect our motherland,'' said Leander, on telephone from Newport.

Paes is, at present, playing in the Hall of Fame tennis tournament at Rhode Island, Newport.

He said: "I read news of the Kargil conflict regularly and hope things would work out, and there would be peace in Kargil again.''

On his reported rift with Bhupathi, he said there was no more any rift.

'There was some difference of opinion, but the worst is behind us now,'' he stressed.

The country's top tennis professional, who has been partnering Bhupathi in doubles for more than three years now, said: ''When we play, we play like true professionals and in the best of spirit. We have developed into a fine doubles combination. We like to play and would continue to play as partners for some more years to come.''

At the Hall of Fame tournament, however, Paes will be playing doubles along with Wayne Arthurs of Australia, as Bhupathi was unable to make it to the qualifiers which were held during Wimbledon.

Paes attributed "hard work and dedication" as the main reasons for the Paes-Bhupathi success story.

''When we started playing together about three-and-a-half years ago, my ranking was 65 and Mahesh's 400. We dreamt of becoming the world's number one pair. It indeed came true.

"One has to be in the very best of his elements - technically, physically and tactically - to clinch the issue at Grand Slam meets, especially at the Wimbledon. Initially, we were not very sure of winning the titles in these tournaments, but became confident as the matches progressed," Paes added.

Regarding his next big goal, the Indian ace said, ''We are looking forward to the US Open, where I will play both singles and doubles, as also the World Doubles Championship and then, of course, the 2000 Olympics."

When asked why he wasn't able to achieve similar success at singles as well, Paes replied: "Concentrating on doubles itself takes a lot of time.''

He went on to remind one that he had some memorable wins in Davis Cup singles besides a triumph in the Hall of Fame tournament.

''Earlier I was ranked 73rd on the ATP rankings. At present my aim is to be among top 50 in the circuit," he declared.

Paes was unable top identify one most satisfying moment in his tennis career ever since he won the 1990 junior Wimbledon singles title.

The 26-year-old Calcuttan said: ''Every moment is different and has its own charm. The 1990 title, the first major title of my career, as also the French and Wimbledon doubles titles have very special places in my memory. But the victories I enjoyed most were those at Frejus, in France, in Davis Cup singles and doubles on our way to the semi-final in 1993, and also at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Though I got a bronze at Atlanta, it was very satisfying that I could win a medal in the individual event of the Olympics for the country after so many years.''

About the role of various coaches in his career, Leander said all his coaches, including his present coach, Bob Carmichael, did their bit to improve his game.

''It was Naresh Kumar, our non-playing captain in the Davis Cup, who gave me the first break in the Cup. And then, there was Ivan Lendl, who taught me that the lone secret of success is hard work. I still practice a lot before any tournament… and it really paid dividends this time. Otherwise, we could not have won the French Open and Wimbledon titles back to back," he asserted.

Paes felt that it was the South Club, in Calcutta, and the Britannia-Amritraj Tennis Academy, at Chennai, which played a big role in shaping up his career.

Asked who he thought would take over from him to keep the Indian flag flying, like he did after Ramesh Krishnan, Paes said Mahesh would be there in the doubles, though he didn't see anybody at present.

"Hopefully Mahesh and (Syed) Fazaluddin will be able to carry on the task," he concluded.

UNI

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