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A French toast

Shailesh Soni

It was a great moment for Indian tennis yesterday, as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi lifted the French Open doubles title. The victory gave Indian sport, starved as it is of major successes, something to cherish for long.

"I'm kind of still in shock," conceded Bhupathi, after the triumph. "I just spoke to my parents. They showed the match yesterday and the two games today (in India). I'm sure it is very big news in India," he said.

"The phone's not stopped ringing; the locker room phone, my mobile phone," Paes added. "It's just non-stop. I think it's fantastic. Tennis is the No. 2 sport, after cricket, in India. It gives us great pride in giving the rest of our country things to be happy about. Especially, since it was shown live. It's a special moment for us, being our first Grand Slam title," declared the 25-yeard-old Paes.

Getting there and winning are two different things. For Bhupathi and Paes, the victory was simply historic. They are the first players from India to win a Grand Slam title.

It all started a few years back at the Jakarta Challenger. Then they won the Aruba Challenger in '96. But very few remember the days when this pair was just about beginning their journey on the ATP circuit. In late 1996, there were articles in Singapore's Straits Times, talking about a certain Olympic medallist (Leander Paes) playing doubles with Pat Cash, who had been given a wild card. But a few days before the tournament Paes decided to play with Bhupathi instead. Later, in an interview with Straits Times, he clarified, saying: "I have informed Pat of my preference to play with Mahesh - basically because I see the doubles future to be in the company of Mahesh ….Pat understood."

Pat Cash paired with another partner, and the Indian combination lost in the first round itself. But that first defeat perhaps is now proving to be the stepping stone to success.

Just recently there were rumours that Paes and Bhupathi had differences between them and were parting ways. However, they silenced all their critics, first, with the title at the Gold Flake Open in Madras, and now the French Open crown.

The pair now have a record of 14-4 in finals (not counting the Challenger tournaments ). After starting off in 11 of 12 tournament finals, they lost three of the next four finals, and now have won the last two. Their 14 titles take them to one over Vijay and Anand Amritraj, who had the previous record for doubles titles for India, though attained over a longer period than the current duo.

Paes and Bhupathi know well enough that they have a long way to go to attain all the goals they have set for themselves. They said yesterday that the Woodies (Mark Woodford and Todd Woodbridge) are their idols and that kind of longevity is what they are looking for.

Another six more titles will place them alongside the top 10 teams ever in history, and that's their immediate goal. The Woodies won over 10 Grand Slam titles, but never won the French Open - their best always seemed to be saved for Wimbledon, where they won five years in a row, before losing in a 12-10 fifth set to the Dutch pair of Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis last year.

But, Paes and Bhupathi have so far found Wimbledon and grass to be their worst Grand Slam battle grounds. They have a chance right now to change all that in a couple of days at the Stella Artois tournament at Queen's, London, where they are the top seeds, with a first round bye.

With the 876 points from the French Open, Paes and Bhupathi are now way ahead of other players at Nos. 1 and 2 positions, with 3993 and 3922 points respectively. At No 3 is Sandon Stolle, with 3254 points. Their good showing this year places them without any points to defend for 2-3 months now, till the US Open, and ensures that they hold the top ranking for some time. Their team ranking is No.1, with 1969 points, just about exactly where they were last year at about this time. Though they had four titles then, they have two bigger titles and a big Australian Open final appearance too. They got 1428 points from the two Grand Slams alone! They are ahead of the No. 2 team by over 300 points (only about five teams have over 1000 points this year).

Sure, something to cheer about after the Indian cricket team's none-too-impresive showing at the ongoing World Cup in England.

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Paes, Bhupathi win first Grand Slam title
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