'I live to play in the Grand Slams'

They just don't get it.

Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi come to Wimbledon as strong contenders for the doubles crown, but unless they learn to play the publicity game they are never going to enjoy the rewards that tennis has to offer.

Mediocre players with far less talent than this golden couple who won the doubles title at the French Open a fortnight ago will get more publicity, and a lot more money because they know how to market themselves.

No one is suggesting this pair sell themselves as male models, but sporting audiences are demanding more from their heroes than just a solid backhand. Neither man will say why it is they dissolved their successful partnership in 1999, just as they were establishing themselves as te most formidable pairing on the circuit.

Their fans, and the tabloids, still want to know. There were rumours of professional jealousies. Some insiders on the circuit claim that Bhupathi couldn't stand the fact that his much shorter partner was the better player. Others speculated wildly that they fell out over money.

Instead of capitalising on this tantalising issue, the pair have taken an almost monastic vow of silence on the matter.

Ask Paes and he shrugs, rolls his eyes and reluctantly talks about injuries, loss of form, insisting that he doesn't see the point of the question and only wants to talk about their tennis.

Bhupathi will not say anything at all on the subject. Surely, they look around the dressing rooms on the international circuit and see how players like Anna Kournikova makes 11 million Pounds per year and has never won a single tournament compared to this pair who have already taken three Grand Slam titles.

One marketing executive said, "Sport is big business and those who succeed know how to develop their personality as well as their God given talent. These boys are a formidable couple, but nobody knows what makes them tick. Together they are as lethal as any on the doubles circuit, but apart they will never make the top rankings."

Paes' explanation that his broken wrist and Bhupathi's damaged shoulder were to blame for their split does not ring true when both men were playing the circuit with different partners and only a fraction of their former success.

They got back together just before last year's Sydney Olympics, but they didn't leave themselves enough time to make the impact that was expected and it cost India what should have been a near certain medal.

They weren't even seeded at the French Open because nobody was quite sure just how comfortable they were both on and off the court. Their chemistry is clearly still as potent as it was, which is why they they are ranked second at Wimbledon which starts on Monday, June 25.

From his rented flat in South London Paes says all this talk of them being the odd couple distracts from their tennis. Given their success in Paris who is to say that silence is not the best policy, but modesty won't get them on the front cover of Stardust.

Paes genuinely doesn't care. In a way its is refreshing that these men embrace something of the Corinthian spirit at a time when money shouts louder than talent. This pair give the impression that like Fred Perry they play the game for the love of it.

Paes' modesty is not a show. For a Goan boy brought up in Calcutta he still finds it hard to believe that he travels the world with his tennis racquets and has an enviable home in Orlando, Florida.

He jealously guards his private life to the extent he has never confirmed to any journalist the name of his glamorous partner. That will not get him into Stardust either.

This is a sharp contrast to the Amritraj brothers who knew how to sell themselves. They never made it to the top 16, but by shrewd marketing they made sure that they make household names where it mattered in Beverly Hills. Madison Avenue and Soho.

Paes doesn't envy the Amritraj's fame or the fact that one of them had a walk on part in a James Bond film.

He is singularly devoted to tennis.

"I've been traveling for 16 years, travel between 35 and 42 weeks per year and that's on the ATP circuit", he said in London at the week end. My singles ranking before Wimbledon was 280, doubles ranking is 19 and as a team we're ranked two in the world.

"I pretty much live to play in the Grand Slams and for the country - that's what I choose as my goals for the whole year.

"So far this year I've had a very good year in the Davis Cup. We had two ties this year where we beat China and Japan and I won all my six matches there, singles and doubles. We played China in February in China, we beat Japan in Japan;

"At the same time coming into the French open we were carrying some good form so the French open is definitely the pinnacle of this year so far.

Asked how the adrenalin flowed at the French Open last month, he replies, "The success in France is a culmination of many things; the first is that we're so comfortable on the clay with our doubles and the fact that the clay courts are a little slower than the hard courts or the grass courts. It gives us a fraction of a second longer and gives me a fraction of a second longer to be creative."

Paes adds that both he and Bhupathi have been extraordinarily successful on clay courts like the ones at Roland Garros in Paris.

Before we we played the French in 1993 I took two months off from the circuit just to learn how to play on the clay courts.Ever since then I quite enjoy playing on the clay courts.

"In our doubles play we've had a very good record on clay and leading into the French open we got into the semi finals of Monte Carlo, as well as we won two tournaments back to back in Atlanta and Houston", he explains.

"As you will see from my singles play grass is my favourite surface in singles. But when it comes to doubles, because of our different strengths as a team, clay courts suit us better. I've learned to adapt over the years."

Paes trains for five hours a day and is duly to grateful to his Indian heritage for the alternative therapies that he says have helped to enhance his game. He consults an Indian yoga teacher back home in Florida and says yoga has helped him in ways that he cannot measure.

"We are blessed in India with the culture we have, including dietary habits and things like yoga that enhances my performance", he declares.

Time will tell if Paes and Bhupathi have got it right. They may not make the millions that others do. But by concentrating on whats most important - playing the game they love - they might yet make the history books as the most successful double act ever in Indian sport.